The piles of salt at Dampier with the iron ore railway in the foreground
Condenser Ponds for the Salt Mine
This pond has nearly all evaporated just leaving the salt
First stop was Dampier which is just 20kms from Karratha and is considered to be its sister city and is the gateway to the water activities available amongst the 42 islands around the Dampier Archipeligo. Dampier has a population of 2,000 and was established in the 1960's by the Pilbara Iron mining company as a sea based export location for iron ore. Now the world class port also provides the loading facilities for the Dampier Salt operations and Woodside Liquefied Natural Gas, as well as safe, calm beaches.
Dampier Bay
The port at Dampier with boats being loaded
Next we went to Parker Point to see the Pilbara Iron facilities and then to the Karratha Gas Plant which is part of the Woodside operated North West Shlf Venture which is one of the world's largest producers of gas. The facilities were developed in the 1980's following discoveries of massive gas and condensate fields in Western Australia's Carnarvon Basin. This is a $27 billion production system which includes offshore production facilities and subsea infrastructure, onshore processing, storage and loading facilities, a liquified natural gas shipping fleet and a supply ase supporting the offshore activites. Production from this venture accounts for more than 40% of Australia's total oil and gas production. Unfortunately the North West Shelf Venture Visitor's Centre wasn't open but we had a high vantage point and were able to see all the workings.
Karratha Gas Plant
A memorial to the miners
You can see the gas burning if you look closely
Another view of the gas plant
Looking down on Karratha
Then back to the park for a swim.
cheers
Pete and Roz
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