Port Bonython is a deepwater port at the head of Spencer Gulf

Spencer Gulf

The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost of two large inlets on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. The Gulf is 322 km long and 129 km wide at its mouth. The western shore of the Gulf is the Eyre Peninsula, while the eastern side is the...

, 20 km eastnortheast of Whyalla. It is capable of taking Capesize

Capesize

Capesize ships are cargo ships originally too large to transit the Suez Canal . To travel between oceans, such vessels used to have to pass either the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn. In effect Capesize reads as "unlimited"...

 ships. It was established in 1982 and named after John Bonython, the founding chairman of Santos Ltd.

Santos Ltd.

Santos Ltd. is a large Australian oil and gas exploration company. Its name is an acronym for South Australia Northern Territory Oil Search.-Operations:...

Overview

Port Bonython serves a petrochemical plant fed with oil and gas from the Cooper Basin

Cooper Basin

The Cooper Basin is a sedimentary geological basin in Australia. The basin is located mainly in the north-east part of South Australia and extends into south-west Queensland. It is named after the Cooper Creek which is an ephemeral river that runs into Lake Eyre. Part of the Cooper Basin is...

.

Port Bonython is a possible site of a loader for the export of iron ore from various deposits in South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

. The new bulk facility will be open access

Open Access (Infrastructure)

In the context of infrastructure, open access involves physical infrastructure such as railways and physical telecommunications network plant being made available to clients other than the owners, for a fee....

 and managed by Port Bonython Bulk Users Group.

Western Plains Group is one of the prospective miners.

Railways

The railway north of Whyalla is standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

 and goes to Port Augusta

Port Augusta, South Australia

-Electricity generation:Electricity is generated at the Playford B and Northern power stations from brown coal mined at Leigh Creek, 250 km to the north...

. The railway west of Whyalla is narrow gauge

Narrow gauge

A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...

 and goes to Iron Duke

Iron Duke

Iron Duke may refer to:*Two dukes, both military officers, were nicknamed the "Iron Duke" during their lifetimes:**Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington***The Iron Duke , 1934 film starring George Arliss as Wellington...

and other iron ore mines.