According to Mining News Pro - The fire started at a screen house at its East Intercourse Island port operation on Saturday night. It was subsequently brought under control by emergency services.

No one was hurt in the incident.

An investigation to establish the cause of the fire has commenced, according to a Rio Tinto spokesperson.

“Operations at part of the facility have restarted while impacted areas remain closed,” she said.

“We are committed to ensuring the safety of our team while damage is assessed and during the recovery phase.”

Rio Tinto has yet to confirm the potential costs incurred by the damage and delays arising from some area closures.

The company has recently declared force majeure on certain iron ore shipments from its Cape Lambert A port facility due to cyclone damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Veronica.

Rio Tinto also suffered fire damage to a screen facility designed to separate lump and fine iron ore materials from its Robe Valley iron ore operation in January this year.

The combination of the January fire and Cyclone Veronica led to a downward revision of Rio Tinto’s 2019 Pilbara shipments by around 14 million tonnes.