Minerals Council of Australia:
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Departing
The Newmont Tanami Operations are located in the Tanami desert region of the Northern Territory. The Operation comprises a processing facility at The Granites, located 531 kilometres (330 miles) north west of Alice Springs, an underground mine at Dead Bullock Soak, approximately 39 kilometres (24 miles) west of The Granites; the Groundrush open pit, 97 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of the Granites; and the Tanami mill, 43 kilometres (27 miles) southwest of Groundrush.
Gold was discovered at Tanami in 1900 and over the next 30 years small amounts were extracted from the alluvial deposits and quartz veins. Decades later, following an agreement with the traditional landowners, modern mining began in 1983.
Delegates will tour the Tanami operations including the underground operations at Dead Bullock Soak and stay overnight at the Twin Hills Camp which is maintained on site for the 400 contractors and 210 Newmont employees, who work on a fly-in, fly-out schedule at this remote site. On the Friday evening they will enjoy the hospitality of the social club at a poolside BBQ.
On the way to the Tanami operations, delegates will stop at Yuendumu, an Aboriginal settlement of approximately 1000 Walpiri people in the Central Desert, located 290km North West of Alice Springs. There they will visit the new Art Centre as guests of the Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Association. Delegates will be met by representatives from the community and have an opportunity to meet some of the artists whose work is on display.
The Art Centre is 100% Aboriginal owned and all proceeds from the sales of the artwork go directly to the artist and the Art Centre to further develop and sustain a safe and productive workshop for all artists.
Before departing on Saturday, delegates will be given the opportuntiy to meet local Aboriginal Walpiri rangers who are employed at Tanami to assist with a regional wildlife monitoring program that has been initiated to monitor the impact of current and future mining activities on wildlife persistence and abundance in the area.
It is hoped that the data collected through this program, undertaken in conjunction with the Central Land Council (CLC), will provide a basis for determining management policy for proposed exploration, mining or other operations as well as the formulation of adaptive management policies at existing mining operations if thresholds in fauna distribution or abundance are exceeded.
