the number of Aboriginal employees in their operations. Indigenous Australians in Western Australia in 2001 accounted for 3.1% of the population. Companies however lack an understanding of Aboriginal culture, which requires young men to be sent to the bush for up to six weeks to hunt and learn about their culture. Companies are often unwilling to award their indigenous employees this time off to be able to perform these important traditions. Safety Since the late 1960s, when the Department of Mines began categorising fatalities by commodity, until 2010, 86 work-related fatalities have occurred in the iron ore mining industry in Western Australia. List of active mines This is a list of major active iron ore mines in Western Australia in 2020–21, according to the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. To qualify for the department's official list of principal mining projects an operation has to either had mineral sales valued at more than $5 million, or, for operations where such figures are not reported, had a minimum of 50 employees: 1 Majority-owner and operator shown only 2 Capacity is the production capacity of the mine, not actual annual production, and is in million tonnes of iron ore per annum 3 Coordinates of the main processing facility List of inactive and exhausted mines This is a list of former iron ore mines in Western Australia: Statistics Annual statistics for the Western Australian iron ore mining industry: References External links Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety website MINEDEX website Database of the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety Economy of Western Australia Western Australia