Newman railway. The first train left Mount Newman on 1 January 1969 and the first shipment of Newman ore left port on 1 April 1969 on board of the Osumi Maru. Newman remained a "closed" company town until 1981. Rio Tinto's iron ore operations in the Pilbara began in 1966, with the Mount Tom Price mine opened that year, becoming the company's first mine to open in the Pilbara. Overview Exploration In 2008-09, expenditure for exploration in iron ore in Western Australia increased by 33 percent compared to the previous financial year, 2007-08. The A$560 million spend on iron ore exploration accounted for 45 percent of all mineral exploration expenditure in the state. Production The bulk of iron ore production in Western Australia comes from the Pilbara region of the state. A number of mines however are also located in the Mid West and Kimberley regions as well as in the Wheatbelt. The big two producers, Rio Tinto and BHP accounted for 90 percent of all iron ore production in the state in 2008-09, with the third-biggest producer being the Fortescue Metals Group. Rio Tinto operates twelve iron ore mines in Western Australia, BHP seven, Fortescue two, all of those are located in the Pilbara region. Railways Pilbara region The three largest iron ore producers operate private rail networks to transport ore from their mines to ports on the coast. BHP operates the Goldsworthy railway and the Mount Newman railway, both terminating at Port Hedland. Rio Tinto operates the Hamersley & Robe River railway, formed in a 2001 merger of the Hamersley and Robe River railways. The two lines terminate at Cape Lambert and Dampier. FMG's Fortescue railway, a relative newcomer, started operation in 2008. The line terminates at Port Hedland. Before deciding to construct its own line, the National Competition Council of Australia received an application from FMG, on 15 June 2004, to use part of the Mount Newman railway and also part of the Goldsworthy railway. In June 2010, the Australian Competition Tribunal ruled that FMG would be granted access to Rio Tinto's Robe River line and BHP Billiton's Goldsworthy line but not to the busier Hamersley and Mount Newman lines. Treasurer Wayne Swan suggested that several advantages would accrue from access to the rail lines by third parties. It would increase competition, reduce duplication of infrastructure, and reduce environmental damage. Atlas Iron, another junior iron ore miner,