Darwin Branch - Member Update April 2021

Dear Member,

It has been some time since I was in touch with you and that is not only down to the situation regarding the pandemic, but also a reflection of the situation of our industry in our bailiwick. Mining has continued to be active in the Northern Territory but with little new activity and the past two years have seen a number of sites downsize, suspend or even close operations. Remediation has continued in a few places, but exploration was having a thin time.

Happily, the turnaround has begun and while no new mines have been developed yet a number of projects are finally able to see finance coming and so we can be hopeful things will move on. Also a few commodity prices have moved sufficiently to warrant reopening of some previously suspended operations and so employment prospects have improved for the membership.

Since we last had a Branch meeting the committee has decreased in size steadily to the extent, I seem to be the only one left! Also, we have lost our venue for having meetings and social distancing requirements have made it difficult to arrange meetings. Some branches have gone to virtual meetings but with our small numbers this did not seem a great way to go-especially when some virtual options appeared to be costly.

I am working on a plan to hold a meeting in June and details will be circulated shortly. In the meantime, I would be interested to hear from you with offers of presentations or speakers, ideas for suitable social event and so on. Above all I hope some of you would be prepared to join me in getting the Branch re-activated now that we are entering the vaccination phase of this pandemic, which will in turn hopefully signal the faster return to whatever our new “post-covid” lifestyle is to be.

I look forward to hearing from shortly and to meeting up in mid-June.

Regards,

Peter Waggitt, Chair Darwin Branch AusIMM