BHP’s development of the South Flank iron ore project in the Pilbara, Western Australia has taken a major step forward with the first blast at the site.

The miner, which posted a video of the blast on its Linkedin page (see below), approved development of the $US3.4 billion ($4.5 billion) project in June. The blast milestone follows BHP turning the first sod at the project site in July.

METRONET is the long term plan to connect our suburbs, reduce road congestion and meet Perth's future planning needs.

This is Perth’s most ambitious program of rail projects and Stage One will deliver approximately 72 kilometres of new passenger rail and up to 18 new stations.

The mining centres of Port Hedland and Karratha will be the centre of a new wave of mining and resources activity.

Last month, Fortescue Metals Group approved its new $US1.3 billion Eliwana project, which is set to create 1900 jobs during construction.