Whyalla | Developments & News

[Ho Really]

Thanks for the news rhino. One thing that has nothing to do with mining, but I would love to see, is Port Lincoln and Whyalla connected to the rest of SA's rail system. This could open up more of Eyre Peninsula's east coast. Just a thought.

Cheers

P.S. When they say 160,000-tonne cape-size vessels, they mean deadweight. That's what those giant ore carriers carry. Also they load them offshore because of their deeper draught. Would be a sight here in Adelaide if it were possible.

[Cruise]

Thanks for the news rhino. One thing that has nothing to do with mining, but I would love to see, is Port Lincoln and Whyalla connected to the rest of SA's rail system. This could open up more of Eyre Peninsula's east coast. Just a thought.

id love us to start passenger services to all our main towns

pipe dreams really.

[rhino]

Whyalla already is connected to the rest of our rail system. To connect Port Lincoln is a much bigger task than it appears.
The distance between Whyalla and Kimba (where there is rail to Port Lincoln) is about 120km, but there are hills in the way so you can increase that distance (or add engineering costs). About 45km of this distance is through freehold farming country (as opposed to leasehold pastoral country), where a right-of-way would have to be bought.
Once at Kimba, the line down to Port Lincoln is narrow gauge, not standard gauge, and the track at the moment is barely suitable for freight, let alone passengers. Realistically, it would have to be re-built from scratch to connect a passenger service to the rest of the state, but at least the right-of-way is there.
Now after spending all this money, is there sufficient surface passenger traffic between Port Lincoln and Whyalla (or Adelaide) to warrant having spent it? That's doubtful, given the small population down there. Remember that the passenger rail service from Adelaide to Whyalla, which has at least double the population of Port Lincoln, was stopped because it was unsustainable cost-wise.
Freight is what usually pays for railways - but how much freight goes down the Lincoln Highway? Enough to warrant the cost of building this railway? The main freight on the Eyre Peninsula is grain, and that goes down to this state's best port, which is Port Lincoln - it has no need to come the other way.
If a standard gauge grain line was built connecting the grain sites at Cowell, Arno Bay, Port Neill and Tumby Bay to Port Lincoln (and up to this point this has not been viable cost-wise either), then it just might be worth connecting Cowell to Whyalla via the Iron Duke railway (which would also need to be gauge-converted) and hence have a freight line to Port Lincoln. Don't hold your breath waiting for this to happen.

[Ho Really]

[...] Don't hold your breath waiting for this to happen.

I won't. Maybe what we need is a major discovery of ore, gold, diamonds or whatever. We can only hope and pray.

Cheers

[Bulldozer]

Freight is what usually pays for railways - but how much freight goes down the Lincoln Highway? Enough to warrant the cost of building this railway? The main freight on the Eyre Peninsula is grain, and that goes down to this state's best port, which is Port Lincoln - it has no need to come the other way.

I thought that farmers had been pushing for a rail upgrade for quite a while now? The system has degraded to the point where it is now better to use road transport for moving grain around and the increased cost of this method of transportation is impacting upon profitability/competitiveness.

I do dream as well of seeing all of SA's major centres linked via rail. Imagine being able to take a train from Mt Gambier to Pt Lincoln! Surely we need to be seriously looking at this as insurance against the rising price of oil and the increasing rate of damage that road freight is inflicting upon roads.

[crawf]

In other news, there was a add in the Business SA liftout in tuesday's tiser for a 2 level apartment building in the Whyalla CBD.

[rhino]

I thought that farmers had been pushing for a rail upgrade for quite a while now?

Yes, an upgrade of the existing system - mainline between Port Lincoln and Thevenard, branch lines from Cummins-Bucleboo, Yeelanna-Kapinnie, and Ceduna-Kevin. Actually the Ceduna-Kevin branch is in quite good condition with at least one gypsum train a day in each direction (one empty). The Port Lincoln-Cummins stretch is also reasonable. Beyond there, a lot of work is needed. This is probably justified, but the cost of building new lines where rail currently does not exist means it will only be done if the freight carried can make the line pay. Generally this means daily ore trains for a project with a very long life.

[Will]

This is great news for Whyalla.

From Adelaide Now:

Whyalla may get $100m shops centre
Article from: The Advertiser

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CALLIE WATSON

December 19, 2007 10:30pm

WHYALLA City Council is considering a proposal to build a $100 million shopping centre in the Spencer Gulf City.
The council will conduct a feasibility study into the Whyalla Plaza Shopping Centre project, presented to it this week.

Designer Leasecorp hopes the proposal, on more than 100,000sq m of vacant land on Ekblom St near the city's centre, will house a discount department store, supermarket and national hardware and electrical store chains.

It is also expected to attract 30 specialty shops.

Leasecorp director Tony Syrianos said the city's predicted population growth on the back of the state's mining boom made the proposal viable.

"The population is predicted to increase from the current 22,000 to up to 35,000 within the next eight years. There's massive potential for growth in all areas," he said.

"It (Whyalla) will be very much under-serviced in the retail area," he said.

Mr Syrianos hoped construction would start next year.

Mayor Jim Pollock said, if approved, the development would further enhance the city's reputation as the region's shopping hub.

"We get people travelling from a vast area of the state, some as far away as Ceduna.

"For a retail proposal it's by far the biggest we've probably ever seen, most definitely in the past 40 to 50 years."

Member for Giles Lyn Breuer said: "It's another indicator of the confidence investors have in the city and its future."

[crawf]

Awesome news, I really need to get my act together and update the regional projects thread

"The population is predicted to increase from the current 22,000 to up to 35,000 within the next eight years. There's massive potential for growth in all areas," he said.

Wow thats even better news (quite a big jump though ), Whyalla might again become the 2nd biggest city in SA. Though I hope the city council and developers use this chance to beautifying and improving the liveness of the city such revamping streetscapes and decor, more shops/cafes/restaurants/bars, waterfront development, low/mid rises, better marketing etc... because at the moment Whyalla is way down the list for the places to be in South Australia - the red dust problem doesn't help, though I've heard its improved however there is still much more improvement needed.

Port Augusta is also spose to have a huge population growh in the next 10 years.

[drsmith]

An example of what a strong resources sector does for the local community can be found in Port Hedland and Karratha in Western Australia.

Even after decades of mining and associated development these towns are not particurally big.

[Edgar]

How attractive are those cities/towns up the northern of SA? The furthest I have been to is Clare.

[Bulldozer]

How attractive are those cities/towns up the northern of SA? The furthest I have been to is Clare.

They're industrial cities in a semi-arid or arid environment and are completely reliant upon water pumped from the Murray, so they're not the most attractive places. Whyalla would have to be the pick of the lot between Pt Augusta and Pt Pirie.

I highly recommend that anyone who hasn't been around SA to try and do so - hop in a reliable car and hit the open road - it will give you a new perspective on things when you experience the vastness of space between places.

[Edgar]

How attractive are those cities/towns up the northern of SA? The furthest I have been to is Clare.

They're industrial cities in a semi-arid or arid environment and are completely reliant upon water pumped from the Murray, so they're not the most attractive places. Whyalla would have to be the pick of the lot between Pt Augusta and Pt Pirie.

I highly recommend that anyone who hasn't been around SA to try and do so - hop in a reliable car and hit the open road - it will give you a new perspective on things when you experience the vastness of space between places.

Being a migrant and having only been in Australia for slightly more than 2 years does not provide me with the guts to drive through rural areas. And it should provide enough attraction.

But nonetheless, this $100million shopping centre must be a huge thing for Whyalla.

[crawf]

Rural areas aren't that bad , there safer than the cities.

[rhino]

New desal plant for OneSteel Whyalla
VALERINA CHANGARATHIL From: The Advertiser October 25, 2010 6:18PM

ONESTEEL Whyalla and Adelaide desalination specialist Osmoflo have teamed up to reduce the steelmaker's reliance on the River Murray by up to 20 per cent from 2011.
Osmoflo will build, own and operate a $10 million, 1.5 gigalitre desalination plant at OneSteel's Whyalla site, which currently uses 7 gigalitres of water per year following its recent expansion.
The reverse-osmosis plant will desalinate more than four million litres of seawater per day from July 2011, to supply the 1.5GL of water to OneSteel under a 10-year water supply contract.
OneSteel - targeting iron ore exports of 6 million tonnes per year - currently uses seawater on site for some of its works, but this is the first time desalinated water will be used in production. The plant has been in planning stages for a while and has now received regulatory and environmental approvals.
OneSteel Whyalla chief executive Mark Parry said the brine from the plant would be managed using an on-site pond system.
"The brine discharges will undergo significant mixing and dilution within the pond system ensuring there are negligible salinity impacts on the Spencer Gulf,'' he said.
"Our iron ore export production rates have continued to increase in recent years which leads to an increase in water consumption, so this plant has become an important project for our operations,'' Mr Parry said.
Osmoflo managing director Marc Fabig said preliminary design work had already begun on the plant.
"We hope to build and operate more plants in the region.
"Our Whyalla plant alone will result in at least 10-15 jobs in the construction phase and we would need to have some operations staff on site,'' Mr Fabig said.
"This truly is a benchmark project for the region.''
Osmoflo's clients in SA include Penrice Soda, Coopers Brewery and local councils, among others. Nationally, some of its larger clients include Coca Cola Amatil and Foster's Group.
Recently, it won one of its most lucrative projects, supplying four reverse osmosis plants to the multi-billion dollar Gorgon liquefied natural gas project off Australia's north-west coast.