SYDNEY, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Australia's miners and petroleum companies are on high alert as Cyclone Yvette threatens to cross the Pilbara coast on Christmas day.
Australia's Pilbara region has been struck by a storm front throwing up rust coloured dirt overnight, but the real test is a tropical cyclone 700 kilometers northwest of Karratha, threatening to form into a category two system just before it crosses the coast.
"(It is) still moving fairly slowly though, so at this stage we are not expecting it to reach coastal areas until probably Christmas Day or Boxing day," Australian Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Shane Hicks told Australia's national broadcaster on Thursday.
The south-easterly trajectory means Australia's largest iron ore miners, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals as well as petroleum producers off the North West Shelf will be preparing for potential impacts to operations, despite the system being at the low end of the rating scale.
"Woodside is taking the necessary precautions to safeguard our people and assets," a spokesperson for Woodside Petroleum Ltd told Xinhua in a statement.
The category two Cyclone Stan earlier this year caused damage and delays at Australia's largest iron ore export terminal Port Hedland, impacting results for the world's largest diversified miner BHP Billiton Ltd, as well as Fortescue Metals Group and Atlas Iron.
Cyclone Yvette hasn't impacted Pilbara operations just yet, though preparations are being undertaken. Current trajectory has the system moving deep into the Pilbara mining belt.
"Pre-cyclone activities start from around September and include tie-down exercises for all machinery, site clean-up and incident management training," a BHP Billiton Ltd spokesman told Xinhua.
"We also engage our employees and ensure they are preparing their homes for possible bad weather, which is monitored daily."
On the bright side, surf's up for the region's surfers on Christmas Day with winds whipping up waves for the usually calm, flat waters.
