More than 100 Rio Tinto workers have been evacuated from a mine site near Pannawonica in the Pilbara after lightning sparked a massive fire.
The blaze, which took hold at 4.26pm on Saturday, started east of the Pannawonica townsite.
An emergency warning was issued by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services at 6.03pm for workers at the site’s Wandoo Camp.
A Rio Tinto spokesperson said the nearby mine site was evacuated “as a precaution” before the emergency warning was issued.
All 110 workers were moved to the Pannawonica townsite.
DFES has issued a watch and act alert for the townsite, as the blaze remains out of control and unpredictable.
“There is a possible threat to lives and homes as a fire is approaching in the area and conditions are changing,” DFES said.
Firefighters are on the scene actively fight the fire, with more crews travelling from Karratha — 200km away — to assist.
The bushfire is moving in a southerly direction, towards the Pannawonica Hill.
Further south, the nearby mine site is part of the company’s Robe River joint venture operations, which comprise several mining tenements in the iron ore-rich Hamersley Range.
Rio Tinto, which operates and owns 53 per cent of the joint venture with Mitsui (33 per cent) and Nippon Steel (14 per cent), is the biggest supplier of iron ore to Japan as a result of Robe River.
The joint venture marked its 50-year anniversary in October last year, and by that time it had shipped more than 1.7 billion tonnes of iron ore.
It’s a joint venture that has withstood damaging cyclones, bitter industrial disputes and ownership changes over half a century.