Tuesday, 29 August, 2006

by Kon Vatskalis
NT Hansard

Debates - Tenth Assembly, First Session - 22/08/2006 - Parliamentary Record No: 9

This is an uncorrected proof of the daily report. It is made available under the condition that it is recognised as such.

Member: Mr KNIGHT
To: MINISTER for MINES and ENERGY

Yesterday, minister, you and I attended the opening of the Compass Resources offices in Mitchell Street. I also understand that Compass Resources, Brown’s oxide project has been awarded, and rightly so, Major Project status by the Commonwealth government. Would the minister please advise the House as to the implications of Major Project status and the project’s significance to the Batchelor region and the Northern Territory?

ANSWER

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. Yes, yesterday I was very pleased to officially open Compass Resources’ new office at 80 Mitchell Street, just one of the new offices opening in the Territory. In the past few months, we have seen Lister Gold and GPS Gold opening a new office in Katherine and I pretty sure that more of them will happen in the next few months because mining is booming in the Territory and so is the economy.

Compass Resources is a significant project for the Territory but also a significant project for Australia and that is why the Australian government has awarded it Major Project status in order to facilitate its development and in order to help with approvals and to find out the impediments and assist them through it. Compass Resources is opening the mine site, which is part of the old Rum Jungle mineral (inaudible) at Batchelor. They are sitting on 2 million tonnes deposit that contains copper, cobalt and nickel, and every year they will produce 10 000 tonnes of copper, 1000 tonnes of cobalt and 1000 pounds of nickel. For your information, they will produce about 2% of world supplies of cobalt every year.

In order for a project to satisfy the Australian government to acquire the Major Project Status, they have to satisfy that the project will be of strategic significance to Australia, that it will significantly boost industry innovation, have significant economic benefits for regional Australia, and make a significant contribution to economic growth and employment, and it has obviously satisfied all these requirements. In addition to that, Compass will start construction very soon - 150 people were employed for the mine construction at a cost of nearly $70m. Compass has a joint venture agreement with a Chinese company (inaudible) Metal Corporation Ltd, who will acquire half of the shares and will provide $30m, and it did promise to buy most of the product every year.

For your information, I will be visiting China in the next few months and I will be meeting with (inaudible) Resources and other Chinese mineral companies in order to provide information about the Territory and invite them to the Territory because, as I said before, the Territory is the last frontier for exploration of minerals.

The product to be exported through the Port of Darwin will generate an extra revenue of $100m a year and, as I said before, Compass has established an office in Darwin. Initially, it will be manned by 12 people and will rise to 20 people, and I am looking forward to the next stage of the development, again with a branch (inaudible) and fully metallic development in Batchelor.