LESS than a week after BHP was forced to derail a runaway iron ore train with no driver in the Pilbara, fellow iron ore miner Mineral Resources has revealed details of wagons going off the rails in the Goldfields.

The Leonora to Esperance rail line has been temporarily closed after about 30 empty iron ore wagons derailed early on Sunday morning from a train returning to Mineral Resources’ Koolyanobbing mine near Norseman.

MinRes and rail network operator Arc Infrastructure said no one was injured. Some of the 106 wagons were damaged but not the locomotives.

MinRes said initial investigations indicated that safe operating procedures had been followed.

BHP has suspended all of its Pilbara rail operations after it was forced to deliberately de-rail a runaway train.

“At this stage it appears that heavy rainfall and flash flooding in the region on Saturday washed out some ballast from under a small section of the track,” MinRes said in a statement.

“Arc Infrastructure expects repairs to the track to be completed this week. MRL does not expect this derailment to have a material impact on its Koolyanobbing iron ore production and shipment schedule.”

MinRes last week sent its first train from the Koolyanobbing mine near Soutrhern Cross to Esperance after a five-month hiatus following the departure of previous owner Cliffs Resources.