8 TO 15 APRIL 2014 STAWELLTALK
8 TO 15 APRIL 2014 STAWELLTALK.
Hi Folks, well we had a good meeting on Tuesday a bit of frivolity, plenty of fines for the Sgt , good speaker in Mr Troy Cole from the Stawell Gold Mine, Bruce McClure from Bendigo, was in attendance and a young lady, Melissa Bonny who is a primary school Teacher from St Pat’s, and an ex Rotaractor from Ballarat South and districts. Rtn Kaye was back with us after her Grandmotherly duties, looking after Little Max and baby Syd.
Good tea, hotish and well cooked, Roast Chicken veg and gravy, very nice as the rain Tumbled down, sweets with cream, what bliss! And a cold can of Ginger Beer, for the Ed, and that was him done and dusted for the evening, if the lights had have been turned out for the Power Point, he might have dropped off for a short while . But an excellent evening with an in depth, presentation on the Proposed new Open Cut Gold mine, at Big Hill. And on that matter we will go into more detail shortly.
Lovely to see Kaye back with us, but we have a few with a strange bug going about, not debilitating, but uncomfortable, for the most part.
It was also a lovely gesture from Dr Arthur Obi, where he sent a contribution to the Club, when thanked and asked for what purpose, he has made the donation for, It was for the Club to do with as they choose. Further good news is that Arthur and his boys were sworn in as Australian Citizens, at the swearing in at the town hall, we all wish Arthur the very best of good wishes, and we still hold hopes of having him back at the Club, one never knows, but we live in hope.
Poor PP John has a problem , he is replacing the roof on his Patrick St Property, now this in its self is not that unusual, and when half the roof has been removed and only a section of that area has been sealed even that is not so bad, providing that it does not rain, we haven’t had decent rain for months, and as soon as the work started on the roof, well you know the rest, its rather like washing the car, or putting the washing on the Clothes line , Murphy’s Law states that it will Rain. Hopefully the rain has not got in to the roof cavity, Cheers John and good luck.
Speaking of PP John, he is to be our speaker next week. This was to be the meeting being missed due to the set up for the art show, but as we are aware the situation has changed and so we will be meeting next week, as usual. PP John will speak to us on the very topical subject of China and her development, so from someone who knows first hand this will be interesting as well as informative.
ANZAC Day was discussed with permission from the RSL to Lay a wreath at the cenotaph, granted, Pres Kim will carry out those duties, and it is hoped that all available members will also be in attendance for the Service. It is a welcome return for the Club as we were involved some years ago.
It was great to have a visit from Melissa, an ex Rotaractor out of Ballarat, she is certainly a bubbly personality, and was a delight , so much so that we hope to see her again soon, as she seemed to slip into the tenor of strangers, to her, exceptionally well, and in a short time was chatting away, and seemed to enjoy herself.
This week we are starting the testing of the new folks to the bulletin, and after that we will see how they handle things, and unleash them upon you. PP John will write up the Bulletin and send it out to the members via e-mail. While Kimberley will look after the posting on Facebook and the Club Web-site. Good luck guys, enjoy, it is a lot of fun..
PE Vaughan, Treasurer, was unwell last evening and was an apology, but his assistant got in some early practice for the Job, and slipped into the seat very well, now PP Ken needs the IT stuff from Vaughan, and he will be ready to go. So it is working well the early repositioning of the members to their new tasks. PP Pauline is also on net , to take over the position of Secretary, where her past experience will be of value, and with the training available and the support from the members , she will be a breath of fresh air to the position, and do the job in an excellent fashion. PR is to change over documentation and information in the near future . so the transition from one team to another is going smoothly just at the minute. Remembering of course the team members do not take authority for their new port-folio’s until after midnight on the 30 June 2014
It seems that the momentum for the 60th ANNIVERSARY is growing, we received a query from the North Balwyn Club, pertaining to the Celebration, and wanting more information, so the ball is rolling.
We are reminded that a BBQ for the young men running from Stawell to Hopetoun, is at Cato Park 4.30 PM to 6.30 PM, Friday 11, they are running for a fundraiser for Motor Neurone Disease, all we need to do is to supply the BBQ and the arms and legs to cook, All else is found and all contributions will go to the Fundraiser. Rtn Robin is looking after this little project, so please support these young men in their efforts and also Robby , by contacting him direct.
Speaking of BBQ’s the Roster is out for the Easter Saturday and Sunday BBQ at the Halls gap Hall, please contact Pres Kimberley, it s only for the two days and from 9.30 AM setup to close at 2.30 PM so if we can get more members than at present to give us an hour or two it will make a big difference.
Normans nonsense:
Two blokes were out fishing at their favourite spot, quietly sipping a cold beer and at peace with the great out doors, thoroughly enjoying the peace and quiet. Then in almost a whisper one fellow said, I think I will divorce my wife, she hasn’t spoken to me for more than two months. There was several minutes of silence then his mate said, I wouldn’t rush into anything just yet he said. Good women like that are hard to find !!
And so on to our speaker Mr Troy Cole: Troy has been the manager of the Stawell Gold mine for 7 years and during that time there has been a series of operators of the mine. It was interesting to hear that the base reason for the change in ownership has been the difficulty for the mine to expand its areas of operation, most particularly into the Big Hill area. Of course other things contributed as well with the underground, petering out and becoming unprofitable to operate. The deepest shaft was at 1640 Mtrs. and this in its self caused problems with cooling, air flow, and the time it took for the trucks to get from the surface to the pit head load and get back up again amounting to hours per shift.
Troy pointed out that this operation had been continuing for 32 years yet the environmental effects studies about an open cut mine in the Big Hill area had been going on since 1998, but it was never to get through the authorities nor the people of the Town. The towns folk were divided on the matter, and there seemed no way through the requirements as laid down.
Since that time the mine has been closing down its operations in the main mine and has begun the job of sealing or re filling the various shafts. In fact this has been occurring for 3 years, while the mine has been working over old ground and that has paid the bills but little else. During the better times 4 to 5 Grahams per ton of rock was at or about the norm, but at present overworking the old sites the output is as low as 1.5 to 2 Grahams per ton , and this may last anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 years, but certainly not longer.
To move forward, the environmental effect studies carried out have been exhausting with 8 to 10 Volumes of the work the result, we can purchase a set of the studies at $2,000 per set, the reality is however that it is information overkill, there is just too much information for one person to comprehend, and so pamphlets, and a DVD on the subject have been put out by the mine to keep the towns people involved and aware.
These studies have been undertaken under federal, state and local government authorities instruction, and cover 14 issues considered the factors that may decide the outcome of the approval process, one way or the other, as well as local interest groups and the Towns people , all will be involved as of June this year in discussions that are earmarked to go on for weeks.
These major points of study have been, Air Quality, Noise levels, Human health, Social Impact, Water , Geotechnical concerns, Blasting, Flora and Fauna, ,Economic impact, Rehabilitation, Visual, Green House Gas emission, Traffic control.
When one considers the work involved by experts in these various fields then it is not hard to see the Millions of Dollars spent just to get this far, the figure mentioned in two areas alone amounted to $37 million and that is to this time.
So what is the expected gain, well if we take the price at a round figure of $1600 per ounce, and the load rate of extraction, or feasibility studies indicate 108,351 ounces, one runs out of fingers to work it out very quickly. And as Troy pointed out this expansion is seen by a Miner as small time , for a manager it is huge.
Troy spent some time explaining the aesthetics of the operation, in that not a lot will be seen from the town level as the cut will be below the seen ground level, thus not appearing as a huge eyesore, deducing Noise, and dust contamination, and Sealed road works will enter the mine area from the southern side of the Mine shielded by the topography. With built in dust reduction and rehabilitation process, the retention of Heritage Sites and reinstating historical monuments and other primary sites such as the fire watch tower and communication towers, the Flora and Fauna attention will also be watched very carefully, but studies have shown there is nothing in danger in the area, with the final plan bringing the site back to its original appearance with added areas such as walking paths recreation areas etc.
An extremely interesting talk and certainly we are more aware of the plans now than before. Thanks to Mr Troy Cole for his time and the excellent Powerpoint presentation.
Well folks that is about all for this week take care and we hope you have a great week in Rotary, and
Remember;, a good listener is the wisest of people. Cheers Ed.