The first shipment has rolled out to sea from one company’s significantly expanded port, rail, and mine operations in Western Australia.

A load of iron ore which has departed overnight marks the start of a complete expansion program for Rio Tinto, its spokespeople say. The mining giant is hungrier than ever – seeking to increase its iron ore operations alone to 290 million tonnes per year.

With work now complete on the first phase of the port, road and rail works, Rio's latest shipment has left on the Tai Shan, a cape class vessel carrying around 165,000 tonnes of Pilbara Blend fines.

Rio's iron ore chief, Andrew Harding says: “The ‘290 project’ is the largest integrated mining project in Australia; the delivery of ‘290’ ahead of its original schedule and within budget is a testament to our focus on value driven growth of our low-cost operations.”