Hope Downs 1 Mine

Hope Downs 1 Mine is a metal ore mining facility operated by Hamersley HMS Pty Ltd in WA. Like all covered facilities, iron ore, gold and base metal mining uses significant diesel and electricity. Under Australia's Safeguard Mechanism, Hope Downs 1 Mine must keep its annual emissions below a stepping-down baseline — or purchase carbon credits to cover any overage.

In 2023–24, Hope Downs 1 Mine reported emissions of 167 kt against a baseline obligation of 126 kt — an overage of 41 kt. The facility covered the 41 kt overage by purchasing 40,529 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) — credits generated by carbon abatement projects elsewhere in Australia such as soil carbon farming, avoided land clearing, and landfill gas capture.

Purchasing credits is legal and intended by the Safeguard Mechanism's design — the policy deliberately allows facilities to choose between cutting on-site emissions or funding abatement elsewhere in the economy. Whether credit purchases represent genuine long-term decarbonisation depends on whether the facility's absolute emissions are trending down over time. The chart above shows the trajectory since reporting began. This question applies to all covered facilities under the Safeguard Mechanism, not Hope Downs 1 Mine specifically.

Across the metal ore mining sector, 8 of 8 covered facilities reported emissions above their baseline in 2023–24. The table below compares Hope Downs 1 Mine with other metal ore mining facilities covered by the Safeguard Mechanism.