Red Dog and Japanese Story and Mining in the Pilbara

Red Dog and Japanese Story
and Mining in the Pilbara
In his novel Red Dog, Louis de Bernières
writes: “Visitors to [the Pilbara] can’t
believe that the mining companies are
actually allowed to leave all those heaps of
red stones and red earth all over the place,
without caring about it at all, but the
strange fact is that all those heaps and
piles were put there by nature... The
difference is that nature managed to do it
all without the help of bulldozers, diggers
and dumper trucks.” [a, 8]
Fig 1. Roadside mine works in
northwest Western Australia.
Source M. Stadler, 2014.
Mining in the Pilbara
Red Dog (directed by Kriv Stenders, 2011) and Japanese Story (directed by Sue Brooks, 2003) take place in a region in the north of
Western Australia called the Pilbara. Both films are set against the backdrop of the mining industry, with Japanese Story following a
geologist and a Japanese businessman on an outback tour that includes a visit to BHP Billiton’s Mt Whaleback open-cut iron ore
mine near Newman.
The story of Red Dog, a Kelpie who roamed the Pilbara in the 1970s, is also tightly connected to mining. In 1952 mining magnate
Lang Hancock was flying over the Hamersley Ranges just north of Paraburdoo, where Red Dog was born and where the Tom Price
mine would later be built. Hancock said he noticed that the rust-coloured walls of a gorge looked like “oxidised iron.” [b] Confirming
that the area had rich iron ore deposits, Hancock founded Hamersley Iron in 1964. By 1973 when Red Dog came to live in the
Hamersley Iron shipping port of Dampier, the company had become one of the world’s leading iron ore producers. In 2011 Rio Tinto,
which now owns and manages Hamersley Iron’s assets, sponsored the production of Red Dog and allowed filming on site in
Dampier.
The Pilbara provides an overwhelming majority of Western Australia’s three biggest exports: petroleum, natural gas and iron ore. [f] It
has especially large deposits of iron ore—one of the ingredients for making steel—and covers more than 500,000 square kilometres,
or around nine times the size of Sydney Harbour.
Australia is the world’s largest iron ore exporter, and the second-largest producer next to China. Australia produces about a sixth of
the word’s iron ore. [h, k]
About the Pilbara towns:
• The Pilbara is sparsely populated, with only around 45,000 people [c, f]—less than half the number of people who could fill
the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
• The scene in Japanese Story where Sandy (Toni Colette) and Hiromitsu (Gotaro Tsunashima) get bogged takes place on Old
Marble Bar Road between Port Hedland and the town of Marble Bar. From 31 October 1923 to 7 April 1924, Marble Bar set
a world record for the number of days in a row over 37.8 degrees Celsius. That number was 160 days, which is only 6 days
more than the average of 154 days per year over 37.8 degrees Celsius. [e]
• The Pilbara is known for its hot and dry climate. Mardie, another town in the Pilbara, has the second-highest recorded
temperature in Australia of 50.5 on 19 February 1998. [e]
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Pilbara facts:
• Western Australia has 93% of Australia’s iron ore resources, which include 80% in
the Hamersley Province in the Pilbara. [h]
• Iron ore is a finite natural resource. Scientists estimate that even though it has a
bountiful supply, the Pilbara region will run out of iron ore within 50 years or so. [i]
• On 3 October 1952, the United Kingdom tested its first nuclear weapon—an
atomic bomb named “Hurricane”—between the Montebello Islands [w], which is
part of the Pilbara. The explosion was part of an experiment designed to observe
what happened when a bomb exploded in the hull of a ship. [x]
• Roads are often closed in the Pilbara because of cyclones and heavy rain in the
wet season—from January to May. The larger mining companies have overcome
this problem by having their own private rail networks for transporting iron ore
from the mines to the coast. [q] Red Dog travelled “on the Hamersley Iron buses,
in their utes, and in the train to Mt Tom Price”. [a, 70]
Regarding the searing heat of the
Pilbara, de Bernières writes:
“It was a red-hot day in February,
which in Australia is the middle of
the summer, and all the vegetation
was looking as if it had been dried
in an oven. […] It seems as if the
heat is going straight through your
shirt, so you go as fast as you can
from one bit of shade to another,
and everything looks white, as if
the sun has abolished the whole
notion of colour. Even the red earth
looks less red.” [a, 7]
• From coastal ports including Dampier and Port Hedland, the iron ore is
transported by ship. Iron ore ships, like the one on which Red Dog is rumoured to
have hitched a ride to Japan, can introduce pests that are attached to their hulls
or carried in their ballast water. For example, in Port Hedland, three types of
invasive marine species exist: barnacles, moss animals known as bryozoans, and
jellyfish-like hydrozoids. [r] Once introduced, these marine animals are very
difficult to manage, and they can threaten biodiversity and the health of the
ecosystem in the area. [d]
• One animal that is vulnerable to introduced species from shipping is the dugong.
The dugong is a large marine animal that has been described as an underwater
cow, even though it is more closely related to elephants. Dugongs can live for
more than 70 years and eat more than 40kg of seagrass daily. [l] The Asian bag
or date mussel is an invasive marine species that damages the seagrass beds
that the dugongs rely on. [m]
Fig 2. Dugong. Source: Julien Willem..
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Transient population
A recent boom in mining has created a shortage of housing [g], and driven the median
house price in the Pilbara to more than $800, 000. [j] Many of the mine workers do not
live in the area, but are flown in to work and flown out again to return home. The workers
tend to occupy hotels and hostels, deterring tourism. [g] Those workers who fly-in and
fly-out contribute to carbon emissions and the carbon footprint of the mines.
Water in mining
In order to mine safely, the water from the mining area must be extracted through a
process called dewatering. [o] Mines have to manage water they use very carefully to
make sure that they do not waste water, that there is enough good quality water for
people to drink, and to minimise the negative impacts on the environment. [n, o]
Mining affects small underground water creatures, called stygofauna, that live in
underground pools. During dewatering processes, many of these animals are pumped
out and those that remain live in a depleted habitat. Most stygofauna in the Pilbara
consist of small crustaceans from 0.3-10mm long, but other kinds of stygofauna exist in
the form of fish, worms, snails, mites and insects. [p]
Like Sandy, the geologist in
Japanese Story who lives in Perth
but flies to the Pilbara periodically
for work, many of the people who
work in mines in the Pilbara live
there for only a short time. [f]
Similarly, the mine workers who
befriend Red Dog in Dampier are
described as being:
“either rootless or uprooted. They
were from Poland, New Zealand,
Italy, Ireland, Greece, England,
Yugoslavia, and from other parts of
Australia too. Most had brought no
wives or family with them.” [a, 22]
Fig 3. Stygofauna (Halosbaena tulki) found in
the Pilbara region of Australia. Source:
Douglas Elford, Western Australia Museum
Land degradation
Mining is changing the landscape of the Pilbara. For example, aquifers around the mines
are experiencing a drawdown effect, which leaves less water for nearby vegetation. And
in the places where mines are forcing water out from underground reservoirs into nearby
creeks, new vegetation is emerging in formerly barren areas. [g]
Although Japanese Story and Red Dog do not explicitly focus on ecological
issues, their narratives invite us to consider the extent to which mining
dominates the economy of the Pilbara and affects the land and its people
through trade and transport as well as less visible influences such as
dewatering and invasive species.
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Other facts—Native and Invasive Species in the Pilbara
Mesquite Infestation
The Pilbara is home to the largest mesquite infestation in Australia.
Mesquite is a weed in the form of a spiny tree that is native to
southwestern US and Mexico. It was introduced in the late 1800s
and early 1900s primarily to provide shade and food for livestock,
and as ornamental plants. However, mesquite has the capacity to
transform open rangelands into impenetrable thorn forests, which
is both an economic and conservation concern. [u]
Since 1994, CSIRO scientists have been using biological control in
the form of insects to battle the infestation of mesquite. One of the
three introduced insects, the Argentinian leaf-tying moth appears
to be working—causing the mesquite to lose its leaves and
weaken, which allows it to be better managed by herbicides. [v]
Fig 4 (right). Pilbara
mesquite (Prosopis
spp. hybrid). Source:
Nathan March, DAFF.
More about the Pilbara:
• The Pilbara has some of the world’s oldest rock formations—around 3.5 billion years old. [d] In 2007,
scientists found tiny, 3.4-billion-year-old sandstone fossils of bacteria that used sulphur for energy. These
microfossils represent some of the oldest evidence of life on earth, and were found at Strelley Pool, an
ancient beach that is now inland in the Pilbara. [s]
• The Pilbara is also home to rare and threatened animals, including: the Barrow Island euro (Macropus
robustus isabellinus), black-footed rock-wallaby (Petrogale lateralis), mulgara (Dasycercus cristicauda),
bilby (Macrotis lagotis), pebble-mound mouse (Pseudomys chapmani), ghost bat (Macroderma gigas),
Barrow Island black-and-white fairy wren (Malurus leucopterus edouardi) and the skink (Ctenotus
angusticeps), which is known only from Airlie Island. [t]
• The burrowing bettong (Bettongia lesueur), also known as the “boodie”, was once extinct on mainland
Australia but has been reintroduced into reserves with predator-proof fences as well as Boodie Island, off
the Pilbara coast. [t, y] It is the only macropod, or member of the kangaroo family, that constructs and
lives in a burrow. [z]
Fig 5. Burrowing bettong
(Bettongia lesueur), or "boodie".
Source: Aaron Greenville.
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References for Red Dog and Japanese Story and Mining
in the Pilbara
[a] de Bernières, Louis (2001). Red Dog. Vintage: North Sydney.
[b] John McRobert (n.d.), “Forthcoming Hancock Biography”, http://www.hancockprospecting.com.au/
files/discovery_flight.pdf
[c] Australian Bureau of Statistics (2010), “Feature Article: Spotlight on the Pilbara”, http://
www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/1367.5Feature%20Article1Sep%202009?
opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=1367.5&issue=Sep%202009&num=&view
[d] API Management Pty (2010), “Marine Pest Monitoring and Control Plan”, bit.ly/1gmMR9g
[e] Bureau of Meteorology (n.d.), “Climate Education: Marble Bar Heatwave 1923-24”, http://
www.bom.gov.au/lam/climate/levelthree/c20thc/temp1.htm
Other links for Red Dog
and Japanese Story and
Mining in The Pilbara
SBS Documentary “Dirty Business: How
mining made Australia”: http://
www.sbs.com.au/dirtybusiness/
Conversation Article “Pilbara shows how
to save the most species per dollar”:
http://theconversation.com/pilbarashows-how-to-save-the-most-speciesper-dollar-26971
[f] Government of Western Australia, Pilbara Development Commission (2013), “Future Development of
the Pilbara”, bit.ly/1eq3OiO
[g] National Geographic News (2007), “New Australia Mining Boom Taking Toll on Outback Life”, http://
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/39754586.html
[h] Geoscience Australia (2012), “Iron” Fact sheet, http://www.australianminesatlas.gov.au/education/
fact_sheets/iron.html
[i] ABC Science (2010), “Iron Ore Country”, http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/
2010/07/14/2953402.htm
[j] ABC News (2012), “Pilbara Median House Price Drops”, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-24/
pilbara-median-house-price-drops/4331480
[k] Geoscience Australia (2012), “Iron Ore”, http://www.australianminesatlas.gov.au/aimr/commodity/
iron_ore.html
[l] CRC Reef Research Centre (2012), “Dugongs”, http://www.reef.crc.org.au/seagrass/info/dugong.htm
[m] Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (2012), “Species
Group Report Card – Dugongs”, http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/
1670366b-988b-4201-94a1-1f29175a4d65/files/north-west-report-card-dugongs.pdf
[n] Western Australian Department of Water (2009), “Pilbara Water in Mining Guideline”, http://
www.water.wa.gov.au/PublicationStore/first/88526.pdf
[o] Australian Government National Water Commission (n.d.), “Groundwater in Mining - Pilbara” Fact
Sheet, http://www.wetrocks.com.au/media/files/resources/state/23-CS32_Groundwater-inmining_Pilbara_WA.pdf
[p] Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation (2012), “Stygofauna of the Pilbara”,
http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/our-environment/science-and-research/animal-conservation-research/
invertebrates/stygofauna-of-the-pilbara.html
[q] Wikipedia (2013), “Iron Ore Mining in Western Australia”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Iron_ore_mining_in_Western_Australia
[r] BHP BIlliton (2011), “Introduced Marine Species Management Plan”, http://www.bhpbilliton.com/
home/aboutus/regulatory/Documents/perAppendixA5IntroducedMarineSpeciesManagementPlan.pdf
[s] David Wacey, Matt R. Kilburn, Martin Saunders, John Cliff & Martin D. Brasier (2011), “Microfossils of
Sulphur-Metabolizing Cells in 3.4-Billion-Year-Old Rocks of Western Australia”, Nature Geoscience 4,
698–702. doi:10.1038/ngeo1238
[t] S.R. Morton, J. Short and R.D. Barker (1995), “Refugia for Biological Diversity in Arid and Semi-arid
Australia”, http://www.environment.gov.au/archive/biodiversity/publications/series/paper4/pil.html
[u] CSIRO (2011), “Controlling Mesquite in Northern Australia”, http://www.csiro.au/en/Outcomes/
Safeguarding-Australia/Mesquite-Control.aspx
[v] CSIRO (n.d.), “Controlling Mesquite in Northern Australia - History of Mesquite Biological Control”,
http://www.csiro.au/Outcomes/Safeguarding-Australia/Mesquite-Control/History-of-mesquite-biologicalcontrol.aspx
[w] CTBTO (n.d.), “3 October 1952 - First British Nuclear Test”, http://www.ctbto.org/specials/testingtimes/3-october-1952-first-british-nuclear-test/
[x] Ministry of Defense (1954), “Scientific Data at Operation Hurricane”, http://archive.org/details/
BritishNuclearTestOperationHurricaneDeclassifiedReportsToWinston
[y] Wildlife Research and Management Pty Ltd (n.d.), “The Burrowing Bettong (Bettongia lesueur)”,
http://www.wildliferesearchmanagement.com.au/bettong.html
[z] Department of the Environment (2013), “Bettongia Lesueur Unnamed Subsp. — Burrowing Bettong
(Barrow and Boodie Islands), Boodie”, http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/
publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=66660
This fact sheet and its links were last checked on 23 March 2014.
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