Sensational-Adelaide.com

Aidan wrote:

Aside from ports, Adelaide Airport was expected to need an upgrade in the next decade and three new airports and one new helipad would need to be built in the State's upper north, to accommodate an increase in flights from 800 in 2013 to 1800 per year by 2021.

Where would the airports and heliport be?

mattblack wrote:

Aidan wrote:

Aside from ports, Adelaide Airport was expected to need an upgrade in the next decade and three new airports and one new helipad would need to be built in the State's upper north, to accommodate an increase in flights from 800 in 2013 to 1800 per year by 2021.

Where would the airports and heliport be?

Whyalla, Pt Pirie, Pt Agutta probably. Upgrading what infrastructure already exists up there and trying to spread the fly-in fly-out population around to lessen the load on Roxby itself. Its definately going to be a massive undertaking.

Aidan wrote: Whyalla and Pt Aug already have airports. The article specifically mentioned three new airports.

Aidan wrote:Where would the airports and heliport be?

Whyalla, Pt Pirie, Pt Agutta probably. Upgrading what infrastructure already exists up there and trying to spread the fly-in fly-out population around to lessen the load on Roxby itself. Its definately going to be a massive undertaking

.

Whyalla and Pt Aug already have airports. The article specifically mentioned three new airports.

SA hits paydirt as mine contracts signed
Simon Manser is SA manager of Ausco, prefabricators of accommodation huts for the Olympic Dam mining expansion. Picture: Dean Martin

THE dollars have begun to flow into South Australia for the massive expansion of the Olympic Dam mine.
In a pivotal move for the state's economy, BHP Billiton has engaged local suppliers for early works.

It is the start of $525 million to be signed off on in SA by July.

Elizabeth West company Ausco is among the first to win work, building transportable accommodation units which will house some of the first of 10,000 workers for the project.

"This is really important for manufacturing in SA," said Ausco's general manager for the southern region, Robert Wormald.

"We know that SA has the skills and expertise. This has given us the opportunity to grow in capability and scale. And it's given our suppliers surety."

Ausco will build units containing 1264 rooms for BHP, in an initial contract that will take about a year to fulfil.

In preparation, Ausco increased its shopfloor workforce by 50 per cent to 120 during 2011 and is busy recruiting the same number again - a doubling within 18 months. It also has about 40 office staff.

A similar story is unfolding with another of the early contract winners, Wayville-based civil engineering firm Exact Mining.

"We'll be ramping up quickly over the next four to six weeks to about 140 people at Olympic Dam," said Exact Mining business development manager Shaun Matschoss.

"That'll be 50 to 60 of our existing personnel and then we'll be recruiting 80 to 90 specifically for this project."

Exact has been hired to build haulage roads and level the site alongside the proposed open pit of the copper-gold-uranium mine, so heavy equipment can be brought to Olympic Dam in readiness for BHP's board decision to go ahead with Stage One of the expansion.

Exact will bring in its specialist crew, which has been working in WA's Kimberley, adding to staff at its Roxby Downs base.

It also intends to expand its indigenous workforce development venture based in Port Augusta.

"We've been able to put long-term unemployed indigenous people through training," Mr Matschoss said.

"We've had good success there and this project will dovetail into those programs."

The contracts flow from BHP's allocation of $US1.2 billion in so-called pre-commitment funding, ahead of the board's final decision which is expected by mid-year.

The allocation has enabled BHP to place firm orders for long lead-time equipment such as mining trucks as well as accommodation and site works.

BHP uranium president Dean Dalla Valle - who heads the Olympic Dam project - said he was very pleased some early work was being won locally in SA.

"We have already engaged with local contractors and suppliers to ensure they are aware of the opportunities that may lie ahead and we will continue to contract locally where appropriate," he said.

He cautioned that the project was still in the feasibility stage and that "its progression into execution remains dependant on the completion of all required studies and board approval".

Other companies to secure contracts include Roxby Downs-based earthmovers Heading Contractors and Kent Town engineering company Tonkin Consulting.

Ausco was founded in SA 50 years ago but is now owned by a UK private equity business following mergers and acquisitions.

Its Australian headquarters are in Brisbane but Mr Wormald said the SA branch acted fairly autonomously and served this state, NSW, Victoria and the Northern Territory.

It has built units for other SA mines including Iluka Resources' Jacinth-Ambrosia, OZ Minerals' Prominent Hill and IronClad's Wilcherry Hill on the Eyre Peninsula.

However, the Olympic Dam project had created the opportunity to step up a level.

THE STORY SO FAR



1975 - Olympic Dam mineral deposit discovered by WMC Resources.

1988 - Mine officially opened, production commences.

2005 - BHP Billiton acquires Olympic Dam.

2006 - Draft proposal for expansion.

2009 - Draft Environmental Impact Statement released.

May 2011 - Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement released November 2011 - The South Australian Parliament approves the Indenture Act allowing the proposed mine to go ahead

THE ROAD AHEAD

January 2011 - BHP starts spending $US1.2 billion in pre-commitment funding.

Mid-2012 - The BHP board is expected to meet and formally sign off on the development of the project

After that, it will take about five years of mining to remove the 350m thick layer of overburden and expose the ore body.

Construction will take 11 years in all, and will include a new accommodation site for up to 10,000 people.

The expansion is expected to create about 25,000 new jobs.

Over 40 years, the size of the pit will grow to be 4.1km long, 3.5km wide and 1km deep.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/ ... 6244051248

Ben wrote:OZ Minerals awards Thiess $1 billion mining contract at Prominent Hill SA


http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20120207/p ... lwwlr9.pdf

Wayno wrote:

Ben wrote:OZ Minerals awards Thiess $1 billion mining contract at Prominent Hill SA


http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20120207/p ... lwwlr9.pdf

excellent news. 170 new jobs, with the majority (90+%) going to local SA people.

MORE than 10,000 workers will be needed in the next five years for the mining industry on the Eyre Peninsula.

This number is on top of 25,000 workers already estimated as needed for a larger Olympic Dam.

The Resources and Engineering Skills Alliance predicts up to 2000 jobs, needed directly in mining and processing, will be created in the region over the next five years.

Its analysis of the potential resources sector workforce found another 3000 jobs will be necessary in engineering support roles.

A further three to four service jobs will be created for each mining job, taking the total number of workers needed to at least 11,000.

RESA chief executive Phil de Courcey said the stereotypical image of a "mine employee being a burly male in a hard hat in dirty clothes" could not be further from the truth.

"Research we conducted late last year covering opportunities in Whyalla and the Eyre Peninsula identified careers such as accountants, surveyors, various classes of engineers, environmental scientists, laboratory workers and OH&S professionals as being among the careers most likely to be in demand in the coming decade," Mr de Courcey said.

He said the challenge was to plan ahead for recruitment.

The RESA Skills Summit, in Adelaide on Wednesday, will explore how SA can get the workers it needs.

Mr de Courcey said resources companies should be required to provide a workforce impact statement, outlining their staff needs, when they apply to the Government for project approvals.

Iluka Resources executive assistant Deb Loveday was working with a financial firm when her first mining position came up with the former Normandy Mining.

She has worked for Iluka, which has a mineral sands mine near Ceduna, for almost five years.

BP heads to meet minister on marine safety

EXECUTIVES from energy giant BP will meet South Australian Mining Minister Tom Koutsantonis in the US today to assure him precautions are in place off the Great Australian Bight to prevent a repeat there of the environmental disaster that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago.

BP is conducting seismic surveys for petroleum in an exploration zone of about 12,500sq km in the Bight region, about 350km southwest of Ceduna on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula.

Mr Koutsantonis yesterday told The Australian from Toronto, where he has been attending the world's biggest mining convention, that he was to meet executives from BP in Houston, Texas, today and tomorrow to discuss the $1.5 billion exploration program.

"I will be speaking with them about what measures they're putting in place in regards to their environmental clean-up and precautionary measures," he said.

"I want to look at their clean-up in the Gulf of Mexico, and the community engagement they are undertaking. They're spending $1.5bn off the coast of South Australia on exploration.

"We have a ship that is the largest vessel in the world living off the coast of South Australia."

The exploration program is in its early phase, with Norwegian vessel Ramform Sterling halfway through a six-month seismic survey. Although it has government approvals, there are concerns over the sensitive environment of the Bight region.

The area contains potentially large oil and gas accumulations, and BP has committed to drilling four exploration wells, starting next year.

However, the company is still suffering from the consequences of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago, known as the Deepwater Horizon disaster. This week, BP announced an 11th-hour settlement worth $7.3bn with 116,000 claimants.

Mr Koutsantonis told The Australian he had met Rio Tinto executives at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada congress to discuss a mine project in South Australia that could be bigger than the Olympic Dam site.

The Tasman Resources Vulcan project is an accelerated exploration program in South Australia's far north. Tasman Resources established a joint venture deal with Rio Tinto Exploration last year.

Mr Koutsantonis also met representatives from Chilean copper mining companies Antofagasta Minerals and Codelco, who he said were interested in expanding into South Australia and teaming with junior explorers.

Vulcan - new IOCGU system discovered Nov 2009
-30 km north of Olympic Dam
- IOCGU mineralisation - Cu, Au, Ag, U, (+ Mo, REE etc)
- 57 m of strong Cpy/Py mineralisation in VUD 3
- similar target area to OD > 11 km2 -virtually untested
- 5 drill holes to date – all mineralised
- drilling resumed Jan 2011

http://www.tasmanresources.com.au/repor ... 202011.pdf
This report has lots of pretty pictures that give you an idea of the bulk/scale compared to other major SA mines. You can flick through in 1-2 minutes.

Australian mines continue to rank as the world's top investments in terms of political risk, despite the looming introduction of the mining tax.

In its annual political risk assessment of the mining industry, global resources consulting firm Behre Dolbear placed Australia at the top of its 25-nation ranking, ahead of Canada, the US and Brazil.

Behre Dolbear chief executive Karr McCurdy says Australia has topped the list for several years.

Any investor concerns about the mining tax are mitigated by the quality of Australia's resources and the ease and transparency of approvals, Mr McCurdy says.

"There's no place better than Australia to put your investment dollars at work with respect to the underlying political, if you will, risk," he said.

And while Australia has led the way with the passage of the mining tax, Mr McCurdy says many other countries are considering similar taxes.

"I don't think you are going to see the sector shut down as a result," he said.

The survey examines how nations' political policies and business conditions promote investment growth in the mining sector.

It does not consider economic returns or other investment factors as part of its assessment.

Olympic Dam will start economic boom: BIS
ABC News - Updated April 05, 2012 07:52:12

A private report on future engineering construction in Australia says the Olympic Dam mine expansion project holds the key to transforming South Australia's economic landscape.

The BIS Shrapnel report says rail and road infrastructure works will give a vital boost to the construction sector over the next three years.

BIS Shrapnel senior manager Adrian Hart said the bright outlook for SA was dependent on BHP Billiton deciding to proceed with the Olympic Dam expansion.

"If that gets underway later this year or early next year then we will definitely see some exceptionally strong growth in South Australia, pushing activity in the state to record levels," he said.

"It's a long timeframe [for] the project, it's many billions of dollars and you'll see growth over the next three to four years in terms of activity and then just see activity plateau at a very, very high level."

The planned mining expansion will see activity in SA boom from 2012/13, the report forecasts.

Overall activity in SA is forecast to double between the current financial year and 2014/15, to just under $9 billion.

BIS said a SA mining boom would narrow the gap on the two leading mining states, Western Australia and Queensland.

In a note of warning to all states, Mr Hart said the focus on resources for the mining boom was detracting from investment needed on non-mining infrastructure.

skyliner wrote:Just read in today's AFR P5 'BHP Has Olympic Hurdles To Overcome' that some question as to BHP pressing the pause button on this project has arisen due to weaker commodities outlook, industry wide cost inflation, and added government imposts occurring. SA resources minister Tom Koutsantonis bot inclined to give an extension. Does anyone have any further info on this.

All seems quite odd to me after recent expenditure in preparation for the project to start.

Big unwelcome implications for SA.

SA - Great State mate!!