A proposed 320 kilometre railway line from Hancock Prospecting's Roy Hill Mine to Port Hedland has received both Commonwealth and State environmental approval.
The railway's proponent, Roy Hill Infrastructure has committed to implementing a fauna conservation project as an environmental offset for the unavoidable impacts from the development.
The conservation project will be developed and operated with indigenous stakeholders.
The proponent will also make yearly contributions into a trust fund established between the State Department of Environment and Conservation and the Federal Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
The fund will co-ordinate scientific research into threatened species such as the Greater Bilby.
"The environmental approvals for the RHI railway mark a significant milestone for the Roy Hill 1 Iron Ore Project." said Hancock Prospecting chairman Gina Rinehart.
"The offsets package presents a unique opportunity to fulfill our commitments to our indigenous stakeholders and achieve positive environmental outcomes; the first project of its kind in the Pilbara," she said.
Hancock Prospecting is developing The Roy Hill Iron Ore Project with Korean partners POSCO and STX.
The Project consists of a 55 million tonnes per year iron ore mine located 110 km north of Newman.
In June, it was revealed the cost of building the Roy Hill mine was $7.2 billion.
