UPDATE: Cyclone Heads For Iron-Ore Region Of Western Australia
January 10 2012 - 09:51PM
Dow Jones News
A tropical cyclone is headed for the coast of Western
Australia's iron-ore-rich Pilbara region and could intensify when
it hits land Wednesday, prompting the busy Port Hedland to shut
operations and mining companies to halt loading ships as a
precaution.
Among oil and gas companies operating offshore, Santos Ltd.
(STO.AU) said it has shut its Mutineer-Exeter oil field before
cyclone Heidi strikes.
The government's Bureau of Meteorology has classed Heidi as a
category 1 system, but said it could intensify to category 2 just
before it hits land. Gusts of up to 100 kilometers an hour are
expected along coastal areas around Port Hedland, and could
increase to 130 kilometers close to the center when it crosses the
coast overnight, the bureau said.
A spokesman for the port authority at Port Hedland said ships
had been sent out of the port and operations have been
suspended.
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (FMG.AU), which uses the port, said
it has stopped loading, and has halted its rail operations in the
region as well as construction at the port and rail sites, a
spokeswoman said.
The weather bureau said tides are likely to rise, and rain fall
of between 100 and 250 millimeters is possible across the central
and eastern Pilbara.
-By Robb M. Stewart, Dow Jones Newswires; +61 3 9292 2094;
robb.stewart@dowjones.com
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