The opening was a case of second time lucky for BHP, after the company was forced to cancel the original event in November due to unsafe conditions on the runway at Newman airport.

The event was attended by BHP Billiton Iron Ore president Jimmy Wilson and joint venture participants ITOCHU Corporation and Mitsui & Co.

BHP owns 85% of the new mine, with its share of investment coming in a $US3.2 billion ($A3.4 billion).

Wilson said the operation had been designed based on planning and research to drive productivity and technology advancements.

“Mobile crib rooms and fuelling stations have been positioned closer to the mine pits so our trucks and equipment spend more time moving earth and less time travelling or parked out of action,” he said.

“Our pursuit of productivity gains and operational excellence is delivering significant value at Western Australia Iron Ore.

“The business is now well positioned to deliver high margin volume growth at a substantially lower cost.”

Jimblebar achieved first production in the September 2013 quarter and has produced 8.2 million tonnes of iron ore since then, including 4.6Mt in the March quarter.

The mine will ramp up to phase one capacity of 35Mt per annum by the end of the 2015 financial year, taking BHP’s total WA iron ore capacity to 220Mtpa.

The company is also planning a low-cost expansion to 55Mtpa to take total Pilbara capacity to 260-270Mtpa.

BHP has been trialling six autonomous Caterpillar 793F trucks at Jimblebar since August 1.

“We are also pleased to announce we are extending our Jimblebar autonomous truck trial to the neighbouring Wheelarra operations using six Caterpillar 793F trucks in the second trial,” Wilson said.

From mid-2014, the additional six trucks will enable the dumping of ore by autonomous trucks into the newly tied-in Wheelarra crusher.

BHP said it would investigate expanding the use of autonomous trucks, based on the outcome of the trial.

Shares in BHP rose by 0.3% to $A38.14.