Warracknabeal
Vol. 19 No. 24
FREE PUBLICATION
Christmas Festival
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Details, page 31
RED HOT: One lucky Wimmera shopper will drive off in a new Ford Mustang following the grand draw of The Weekly Advertiser and radio stations MIXX FM and 3WM’s Win A Mustang competition on Friday. The Weekly Advertiser sales manager Mark Sulic and MIXX FM and 3WM sales manager Nathan Henry are pictured tempting finalist Kellie Morson with the keys to the vehicle. Kellie will be one of 13 people in the running to win the Mustang at an outside broadcast at Norton Motor Group on Friday. The Daily Grind breakfast show hosts Nims Azoor and Kaycee Bould will host the grand draw from 11am. Nims and Kaycee will draw the remaining finalist on The Daily Grind this morning. The broadcast, open to the public, will include a free barbecue and activities. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
Miner support plea C
BY DEAN LAWSON
ommunity leaders have moved swiftly to reassure Stawell residents that major projects including an Australian-first Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory will continue as planned despite Stawell Gold Mine ceasing operations.
Northern Grampians Shire mayor Tony Driscoll said the science-lab project based at the mine and the subject of significant investment, and a Nectar Farms hydroponic development next to the site, remained on track.
IN THIS ISSUE
He said gaining assurances that both breakthrough projects would be unaffected by the closure had been important and the priority now was to establish the best way forward to help the 150 people who had lost their jobs. “We’ve had confirmation from Kirkland Lake Gold that they will continue to support the physics laboratory, which means a commitment to provide power, air, roads and so on at the site, and the transition of land to Nectar Farms,” he said. “We’re now in the process of making an impassioned plea to both federal and state governments to come
in and act as swiftly as possible to work in collaboration with us to help displaced mine workers. “We have to bear in mind that we’re talking about five percent of the workforce, which represents about $253-million to the economy. “That’s a big chunk of our local economy.” Kirkland Lake Gold announced yesterday it had stopped mining at the Stawell Gold Mine site and started a transition into a ‘care and maintenance’ phase due to the mine being ‘unsustainable’. It added it would continue under-
ground exploration drilling and environmental monitoring and keep a mill and pumps in operational condition to ensure the possibility of resuming operations. Australian operations president Darren Hall confirmed the decision would mean between 140 and 150 positions would be made redundant, leaving a workforce of between 15 to 20 to maintain the site. He said the decision was not made lightly but had been under discussion for years due to declining profitability. “In 2009 Stawell Gold Mine produced more than 86,000 ounces of
gold compared with just over 32,000 ounces this year,” Mr Hall said. He said Stawell Gold Mines had informed the Stawell community in 2012 that it would be transitioning due to declining gold production. “That transition began with a restructure of operations and a major downsizing of the workforce,” he said. “Through the resourcefulness of our employees we have managed to continue operations for the past four years. But the mine can simply no longer produce enough gold to warrant the continuation of mining.” Continued page 3
• Kealy in shadow cabinet • Accolades for health services • Cricket previews and reviews
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