Port Hedland in Western Australia’s Pilbara region reopens after Tropical Cyclone Zelia

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SYDNEY (Reuters) -Western Australia’s Port Hedland, the world’s largest iron ore hub, reopened after Tropical Cyclone Zelia hit the state’s ore-rich Pilbara region, the port’s operator said late on Saturday.

Port Hedland, reopened after being shut on Wednesday due to the approach of Zelia, the most severe storm to hit the coast since Cyclone Ilsa in April 2023, Pilbara Ports said on its website.

“Pilbara Ports has undertaken inspections of navigation aids, channels and berths and has confirmed safe operations can resume,” the operator said, referring to the port located about 1,300 km (800 miles) north of state capital Perth.

The nearby ports of Dampier and Varanus Island, a gathering and processing hub for oil and gas, reopened late on Friday.

Zelia, which crossed the coast near Port Hedland on Friday as a category five cyclone, the highest danger rating, brought heavy rain and wind gusts up to 290 kph (180 mph).

It moved south and weakened to a category four, sparing the town’s population centre from its most destructive winds, before easing to a tropical low as it moved inland on Saturday.

Port Hedland is used by BHP Group, Fortescue and billionaire Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting. The Dampier and Cape Lambert ports ship iron ore from Rio Tinto, which said on Sunday its port, rail and mine operations had resumed in the region on Saturday.

Fortescue said on Saturday it was assessing its operational sites such as roads, villages and mines but advised that the cyclone had done minimal damage.

BHP, which on Thursday paused its Port Hedland operations for safety, said on Saturday that the cyclone had not caused any major damage at its sites.

Australia’s weather forecaster said late on Saturday that Zelia was weakening in the south of the Pilbara, a region twice the size of the United Kingdom.

“The immediate threat of severe weather has passed,” the forecaster said on its website.

(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and William Mallard)