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Volume 5, Wednesday September 23rd, 2009
Malcolm
Hip hop
Kids
Page 3
Page 6
Page 13
Douglas impressed with Roxby
dancers visit Woomera
enjoy camping out
BHP Billiton boosts mine reserves
I
n a report to Dow Jones by Alex Wilson, BHP Billiton has boosted the total ore reser ves at the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine, although ore grades have fallen slightly.
“The miner said proven and probable ore reserves at the mine stood at 589 million tonnes as at June 30 with a copper grade of 1.81 per cent and a uranium grade of 0.59 kilograms per tonne. “This compares with 473 million tonnes a year
ago when the grades stood at 1.86 per cent copper and 0.6 kilograms of uranium per tonne. “The new reserve consists of 188 million tonnes of proven reserves and 401 million tonnes of probable reserves,” claims the report from BHP Billiton Chairman Don Argus. The major expansion of the mine, tipped by analysts to cost up to $US15 billion, to boost annual output to 750,000 tonnes of copper, 19,000 tonnes of uranium and 800,000 ounces of gold. Olympic Dam produced 194,000 tonnes of copper, 4,007 tonnes of uranium and 108,039
ounces of gold in the year ended June 30, 2009. The reserve upgrade, which follows a resource upgrade at the mine announced last year, was contained in the miner’s US annual report, released last week. The reserve increase lifts the estimated mine life to 54 years, up from last year’s forecast of 43 years, BHP said. The gain is “due to additional mineralization being available for conversion to probable reserves,” the company said. The proposed expansion at the mine in South Australia may cost $15.9 billion, and would take
11 years to build and increase copper output almost fourfold to 750,000 tonnes a year, boost gold production eightfold and uranium by almost fivefold, according to the annual report. In the Dow Jones report, the miner reiterated previous statements that the global economy looks set to remain volatile for the immediate future. “While the global economy is showing signs of stabilising, the large developed economies are not expected to show real growth until at least the end of 2010,” Chairman Don Argus said in the report.
Community recognises the importance of Flying Doctor Service
Auction raises $60,000 By Celeste Lustosa
T
he Roxby Downs Auxiliary, with great support from the Roxby Downs Community, held its annual golf day and giant auction on Saturday, where an incredible $60,000 was raised for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
Sandy Sumsion of Roxby Downs won the bid for this piece of artwork at Saturday’s RDFS Giant Auction. Sandy was among a host of successful bidders who helped raise $60,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor’s Service Auxillary.
A four person Ambrose golf competition was held during the morning. Nineteen teams were registered by 9 o’clock. The tees were auctioned with teams paying good prices for the holes nearer the clubroom. The golf finished by 1pm and it was time to prepare for the auction. With the generous support from local and not-so-local suppliers, there were two trucks full of quality items on offer. The auction commenced around 2pm and finished late in the afternoon. Apart from being a lovely day people who attended the auction had one important thing in mind: help raise money for the RFDS and acknowledge the importance of their service for our community. Dion McKenna paid $60 for a bottle of olive oil from a company that belongs to his family. “He is paying for something he could get for free at anytime, just to
help,” said a friend of his. Michelle Stevens enjoyed the day and bought some items for her three yearold daughter. “This has been a good day and I come and try to help the Flying Doctors every year,” she said. Another good example of community members supporting the event came from Don McKinnon who paid $4,600 for a pizza oven that he intends to use to raise more money for the RFDS. “My intention with this oven is to promote pizza evenings and be able to raise more money for the future.” As the sun went down, people headed inside the clubrooms for dinner, and then enjoyed a fireworks spectacular, rounding off a terrific day. Thank you to all who donated auction items and the bidders who made the day a huge success. Thank you also to all of the helpers who helped make the day possible. Last year, the RFDS made 140 landings at Olympic Dam. That means roughly three times a week, assisting someone in our community. In turn, with the community’s help, this year, the Roxby Downs Auxiliary handed over a cheque to Jan Ward from the Royal Flying Doctor Service (Adelaide), for a whopping $100,000.