record minimum temperature is on 5 June 1973. The Bureau of Meteorology's Pannawonica weather station opened in 1971. All recordings except rainfall closed in 2005. Rainfall is still being recorded as of 2020. Resident facilities The town's facilities include a post office, supermarket, milk-bar, pub, a public swimming pool, sports fields, police station, petrol station, primary school, tavern bistro, gym and a free drive-in cinema with takeaway facility, free movies show on Friday and Sunday nights. Police officers based at Pannawonica supervise an area of approximately 33,800 square kilometres. The annual Pannawonica Robe River Rodeo, in September, attracts an average of 1500 people from all over Australia. Funds raised are distributed to many organisations including the Royal Flying Doctor Service, local school and other volunteer-based groups. An annual Gala weekend held around August boasts a Gala Ball evening to raise funds for a Family Fun Day with children's rides and local stallholders showcase their wares. Mining and loading The Pannawonica residents work at the nearby Mesa J opened in 1992, Mesa A mines opened in 2010 and Warramboo still in development. Mesa is a Spanish word that means 'table', which describes the appearance of the flat-topped iron-ore plateaus standing high above the surrounding ground, remnants of terrain carved by an ancient river system. The Robe Valley operation produces two pisolite (spheroidal crystalline) iron-ore products called Robe River Fines and Robe River Lump. The blasted high-grade ore is hauled directly to a train load-out. The sub-grade ore is washed and screened prior to loading onto trains that can stretch for three kilometres. Rio Tinto Iron Ore - Robe Valley transports about 32 million tonnes of iron ore per year via the company's private 200-kilometre-long rail line to its processing and port facilities at Cape Lambert, near the township of Wickham. References External links Rio Tinto Mining towns in Western Australia Shire of Ashburton