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Volume 7, Wednesday June 2, 2010
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Regional Awards to be held in Roxby! By Millie Thomas
F
ollowing a visit to Roxby Downs Advantage SA – formerly SA Great, has announced it will be holding the 2010 Regional Awards presentation night at the Dunes Café. Kaye Doyle, Project Officer at GHD, was instrumental in organising for these awards to be held in Roxby, in a bid to showcase Roxby as not just a mining town, but also as a strong and successful community. It was Kaye, who met with Chloe Camilleri, SA Advantage’s Awards Co-ordinator, at an Advantage Adelaide event (which launched the 2011 awards) and suggested the possibility of holding the Awards Presentation Night in Roxby. “Advantage SA has just changed their name from SA Great, and they are a non-for profit organisation, all about giving recognition. “We’re a little bit unique because we’re a mining town. I think we’re a pretty important mining town,” said Kaye. “I invited Regional Development Australia Far North Board, who partner Advantage SA to hold their October board meeting, the same weekend as the awards. “We will have an opportunity over those three days (Friday 22, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 October) to showcase Roxby. We’ll get all organisations on board and get them to do up a display. Then we’ll be showcasing to anyone who is coming to the Advantage SA awards, but we’ll also be showcasing to Regional Development Australia Far North Board,” said Kaye. Advantage SA Marketing and Communications
Director Danielle Tsogas echoes Kaye’s excitement at holding the annual awards in Roxby. “We’re very excited to be hosting an awards ceremony in Roxby Downs for the first time this year. The 2010 Regional Awards ceremony for the Far North region will be held on Friday, October 22 at the Dunes Café and Auditorium. Tickets to this gala event will be on sale from July. It is certainly an occasion not to be missed. “Advantage SA continues to receive great support from the Far North region for the Regional Awards. We know that there are plenty of fantastic businesses, groups and individuals in the Far North who are committed to developing and promoting the region. “There is clearly a strong sense of community pride and spirit in the Far North which contributes to the success of small businesses and community groups in the region. “Advantage SA has received some very strong nominations from Roxby Downs so far. 2010 nominees include 105.5 RoxFM Incorporated, Outback Smart, Exact Mining Services, Roxby Downs Health Services Coffee Morning, Big Warm Welcome Barbeque, Musgrave Manor, Sarah Saunders and Linda Evans. “Whether it is a business, community group or an individual, the Regional Awards seek to recognise and reward the outstanding achievements of those who have made a significant contribution to their region and the State.” Danielle said, “We would encourage those in the region to continue nominating to make sure that all the success stories in the Far North are receiving the recognition they deserve.”
Clark shaft back in operation L
ast week it was announced by Premier Mike Rann that Olympic Dam mine is heading back to full production with hoisting from the Clark Shaft recommencing earlier that week. The Clark shaft is the major production hoist at Olympic Dam. As per BHP Billiton’s production update in April, an accident in October last year (in which no-one was injured) saw the Clark system damaged and metal production at Olympic Dam cut by 75 per cent. Over the last seven months an extensive repair program has been undertaken. Significant works underground, in the shaft itself and to the surface infrastructure have been completed. During the repair period BHP Billiton took the opportunity to bring forward maintenance works across the process plant, including a major Smelter shutdown and maintenance on the Svedala, the site’s largest mill. The process plant is now fully operational. Last week, small amounts of ore began to be hoisted by the Clark, and BHP Billiton will continue to refine and recommission the system over the coming weeks. The company expects to return to normal operation by the end of the June 2010 quarter. In an address to Parliament last week, Premier Mike Rann said, “ Olympic Dam is very important to this state. Members would be aware of the catastrophic accident that
occurred last October—catastrophic in terms of production, but thank God that no-one was hurt or killed. Just to put that into perspective, people would be aware that an accident occurred in October of last year that saw the system damaged and metal production at Olympic Dam cut by 75 per cent. “The Clark shaft is fully automated, concrete lined and extends from the surface to a depth of about 860 metres and is seven metres in diameter. Ore that is crushed underground is hauled to the surface in two 36.5 tonne capacity skips, with a combined capacity of 1,375 tonnes per hour. “Members of this house would be aware that the total ore production at Olympic Dam is in excess of 95 million tonnes per annum, and about 70 to 75 per cent is hauled from underground using the Clark shaft.” Premier Rann went on to tell his parliamentary colleagues, “I am very pleased to inform the house today that after many, many months of extraordinarily hard work by BHP Billiton and contractors, that BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam mine is heading back to full production, with hoisting from the Clark shaft recommencing in the last couple of days. “I was very pleased to meet with Marius Kloppers and other executives of both Olympic Dam and of BHP Billiton’s head office this morning. We discussed the resource rental tax and, once again, in a series of meetings we are very pleased to be acting as an honest broker with the federal government in order to ameliorate the impact on projects in this state,” he concluded.