A $91 Billion Trade Means Mining in One of The World’s Hottest Places

Snaking through the russet-colored expanse of Australia’s remote Outback, vast mile-long trains ferry iron ore — the nation’s most valuable export — across a crucial mining district that’s increasingly vulnerable to volatile weather and where temperatures have matched the Southern Hemisphere’s record of 50.7C (123F).

Heatwaves during the country’s most recent summer set new extremes across the Pilbara region, roughly the size of Spain. That has challenged a workforce of more than 60,000, many of whom operate outdoors in a network of dozens of open pits, process plants, railroads and ports. Conditions, according to the miners, are often like stepping inside an oven.