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Volume 7, Thursday 31st August, 2006
Record Prominent profits
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The principal employer in Roxby Downs and the surrounding region, BHP Billiton, has achieved a record profit for the financial year. Annual profits this year jumped to $13.7 billion – an increase of more than 58 per cent over last year and mark the third consecutive year of record profits for BHP Billiton. It is the largest profit ever seen on the Australian Stock Exchange. BHP Billiton CEO, Chip Goodyear, told ABC’s Lateline the results reflected the consistent and successful execution of company strategy. Also setting records this year for the giant resource company were production figures for aluminium, copper, iron ore, nickel and natural gas. Overall, base metals recorded the strongest growth for the company, showing nearly a 150 per cent jump. There was also good news for investors and dividend payouts. Shareholders’ dividends were paid out at 24.2 cents per share (Aus), which is an increase of 27 per cent from last year. Four major projects were completed during the financial year, with the incorporation of Western Mining Corporation (WMC) most affecting residents of the region.
Yorke Peninsula Brilliant Break WINNER
Helen Haliman, our Lucky winner of the Yorke Peninsula Brilliant Break Competition, receives her prize from the Monitor’s Editor Ray Goldie. Find out about great holiday ideas, accommodation, fishing and swimming in our eight page, Yorke Peninsula Tourism lift-out in the centre of today’s paper - proudly brought to you by the Monitor.
Oxiana’s Prominent Hill copper and gold mining operation will go ahead, after the company’s board of directors formally agreed to proceed last week. The site is located 130km northwest of Roxby Downs within the Gawler Craton region and the Woomera Prohibited Area. The site is expected to employ at least 800 workers during the construction stage alone and will help to cement the far northern region of South Australia as one of Australia’s foremost mineral deposits. Pit pre-stripping and site construction has already begun, with South Australian Premier, Mike Rann, excavating the first bucket of material on Monday. Minister for Mineral Resources, Paul Holloway accompanied Premier Rann on his trip to the Prominent Hill site. “The Prominent Hill project will create hundred of
jobs during the construction and operational phases, which will generate major economic benefits for the region and the entire state.” “Oxiana Limited’s go-ahead for its multi-billion dollar Prominent Hill mine is a significant vote of confidence in South Australia’s minerals and resources sector, and the strength of the State’s economy,” Minister Holloway said. “It’s also further concrete evidence that our State’s record breaking exploration growth is on the verge of being translated into a mining boom,” he said. The mine will be open-pit and the labour force will be employed by Thiess Pty Ltd for fly-in and fly-out shifts from Adelaide. Northern Regional Development Board’s Far North Economic Development Officer, Stephen Staines, said the mine would certainly boost employ-
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ment opportunities in the region. “We’ve had enquiries from people in Roxby Downs, the Flinders Ranges, the Eyre Peninsula and Adelaide to see if they could find a job with this development.” “Many of them are people who have lived in Coober Pedy but couldn’t see any job prospects there and moved on – now they want to know if they can come back,” he said. Coober Pedy’s airport will initially be used to fly workers back to Adelaide until another airstrip – close to the operation – is built. A village to house workers is under construction approximately 1.5km from the pit. Like most mining operations both water and electricity will prove pivotal to the success of the project. Continued on page 3
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