JAN24-08

Page 1

Monitor The

Your Community Newspaper ~ Roxby Downs

www.themonitor.com.au

Phone (08) 8671 2683

Fax (08) 8671 2843

Volume 4, Thursday 24th January, 2008

ROXBY PLANS ITS PARTY

The town of Roxby Downs celebrates its 20th birthday this year. It was on November 5th 1988 that the town was officially opened. A number of community organisations, the Roxby Downs Council and BHP Billiton are planning a series of festivities throughout the year to mark the milestone. The Olympic Dam orebody was discovered by WMC in 1975. The mining operation commenced production in June, 1988 at an annual rate of 45,000 tonnes of copper and 1,000 tonnes of uranium oxide with 1 .5 million tonnes of ore processed. The Monitor Newspaper will cover extensively the planned celebrations throughout the year, carrying on from our six part special series we ran last year. That was to celebrate the 21st birthday of the declaration of the Roxby Downs Council on May the 26th 1986. However it all started on May 2nd 1975 when the original Andamooka exploration lease was granted. On June the 12th that year drill hole RD1 commenced using water from the stock watering dam known as Olympic Dam. Several weeks later on July the 4th there was celebration as the first intersection of mineralisation was found in RD1. Drilling continued until in March 1977 the first study of potential mining and milling operations was started at ‘Olympic Dam’. In early October 1979 lobbying by

WMC convinces the South Australian and Federal Governments to alter the boundaries of the ‘Woomera Prohibited Area’, on which the Olympic Dam deposit was located, thereby allowing WMC to choose mine, mill, camp and town sites closer to the deposit. In May 1980 WMC made the decision to sink an exploration shaft for limited underground development at Olympic Dam, mainly to produce bulk ore samples for metallurgical testing and confirmation of the geology and mineralisation. On June 21st 1982 the Indenture Agreement is ratified by the SA Parliament through the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratifcation) Act 1982. In order to get the Act through the Upper House, Norman Foster from the Labor opposition crosses the floor to vote with the Liberal government. On November the 5th 1988 the official opening of the Olympic Dam Project, including ‘special guest’ Norman Foster (former Labor politician) was held. However there was a major accident at the copper smelter during the official opening ceremony when a loud bang followed by a massive flame burst occurred. It’s been an eventful 20 years and Roxby Downs will be the place to be in 2008 as the party ramps up. If you are interested in helping to plan the celebrations you’re invited to a meeting in the Visitor Information Centre on Wednesday February the 6th at 7pm so the program can be coordinated.

Above: Barry Shrimpton before and after his recent fundraising shave.

Built Environs employee, Barry Shrimpton decided to “shave for a cause” last week, with all funds being donated to the RFDS. Full story on Page 5.

CELEBRATE AUSTRALIA DAY JANUARY 26th, 2008 - POOL SIDE POOL SIDE CELEBRATIONS 8.30am – 9.30am

Free BBQ Breakfast by the Pool

8am – 12noon

Free entry to the Pool

10.30am – 12noon

Activities

ACTIVITIES & PRIZES Prize for the Best Dressed Australia Day Outt


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