Pink trucks, netballers now in Rinehart iron mine

Washington

THE woman who became the richest person in Australia by developing some of the nation's vast iron ore deposits has learned one key lesson from the last commodity bust - hire cheaper workers.

Billionaire Gina Rinehart is expanding her payroll to ramp up production from the Roy Hill Holdings mine in Western Australia's remote Pilbara outback. Many of her new employees get paid less because they have little or no mining experience, such as Courtney Grove, 24, who studied animal health and science at university.

Since last month, Ms Grove has been driving a pink mining truck that shuttles 226 tonnes of ore at the US$10 billion mine.

Targeting so-called "greenies" who can be taught basic mining skills is part of Roy Hill's push to keep costs low in an…