FRIDAY MARCH 11 2016 MINING & ENERGY 17

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It’s all about Alice, says Central

Former Central Petroleum chairman Andy Whittle, NT Chief Minister Adam Giles and Central Petroleum managing director Richard Cottee opening the Dingo Gas Field Development Project. Picture: SUPPLIED

ALICE Springs is central in the planning of all Central Pet-roleum’s developments.

This includes employing Centralians and ending the useof fly-in, fly-out workers.

Central Petroleum managing director Richard Cotteesaid the company’s future was founded on the bedrock ofAlice Springs.

“Central Petroleum is committed to its vision of contribu-ting to the economic health of Alice Springs,” he said. “Ourrelationship with the people of Alice Springs is central.

“With time and training, we will phase out the concept offly-in, fly-out jobs, replacing it with locally based employeesto the maximum extent possible.”

In 2013 Central Petroleum changed its strategy from pre-dominantly oil focused exploration to supplying natural gasconventionally from the Amadeus Basin.

In March 2014 it acquired the Palm Valley (near Her-mannsburg) and Dingo (50km from Alice Springs) gas fields,and in September 2015 acquired 50 per cent of the Mereenieoil and gas field and its operatorship.

Mr Cottee said since assuming operatorship, Mereeniehad seen a 450 per cent increase in the number of Territori-ans employed there and a 250 per cent increase in indigen-ous employees.

Additionally, nearly $1 million of new contracts werebeing sourced out of Alice Springs.

The announcement that the Northern Gas Pipeline isfinancially committed and will be operational by 2018 at lastgives Central Australian gas fields a physical pathway tomajor markets.

The domestic gas market is tightening as indicated by arising price.

AGL recently announced the closure of Camden gasfields which supplied 5 per cent of New South Wales’sdemand.

Dingo gas field is physically supplying gas to Alice’sOwen Springs Power Station.

It is planned that Owen Springs Power Station will beupgraded by 2017, increasing demand for Dingo’s gas.

All in all, these developments herald the unlocking of theAmadeus Basin’s existing conventional gas fields.

Mr Cottee said that in Central’s view, there was no other“town like Alice”.

supporting the Northern Territory by:

4 NT for Northern Territorians4 Traditional values for Traditional Owners4 Supporting Local Businesses4 Payment of royalties to the Northern

Territory government

Gas – Financial independence for the Territorywww.centralpetroleum.com.au

NT scores high rankings in mining surveyTHE 2015 Fraser Institute Annual Surveyof Mining Companies was great news forthe NT mining industry when it was re-leased on March 1.

The Northern Territory rated seventh inthe world (second in Australia) forexploration and mining investment

attractiveness, our best ever result and amajor increase from last year, when theNorthern Territory ranked 31st (and fourthin Australia).

The NT was ranked fourth in the world(and second in Australia after WA) for thequality and accessibility of its geological

data. This is a substantial improvement onlast year, and a strong endorsement ofNTGS.

The NT was ranked as having the fifthhighest mineral potential of any jurisdictionin the world (again, second only to WA inAustralia).

Seminar a mine of informationA MAJOR mining industry conference will beheld at the Alice Springs Convention Centrenext Tuesday and Wednesday.

The 17th Annual Geoscience ExplorationSeminar (AGES) is the Territory’s premier ex-ploration event.

AGES is a technical conference that presentsan opportunity for mining industry members toaccess the latest in fresh exploration ideas andgeoscientific data from the Territory.

They are also able to network with col-leagues who share an interest in the discoveryand development of the NT’s minerals and oiland gas resources.

The seminar will present geoscience resultsgenerated from the NT Government’s four-year, $23.8 million Creating Opportunities forResource Exploration (CORE) initiative.

Conference highlights will include the re-lease of the latest data and information on theprospective McArthur Basin including the Beet-aloo Sub-basin, new concepts on copper mineralsystems in Central Australia, release of a jointgovernment-industry seismic survey over Ten-nant Creek, a technical workshop by CSIRO onthe applied use of geophysical data for pet-roleum and minerals exploration and work-shops on legislative frameworks for mineral andpetroleum exploration.

AGES is an event that continues to grow inits reputation and importance as the key techni-cal forum and networking event for the Terri-tory’s exploration industry.·

Conference participants will be able to accessthe latest geoscientific data and network withthose who share an interest in the discovery anddevelopment of the Territory’s mineral and pet-roleum resources.

AGES provides delegates with data, ideasand information to drive further investment.

There are also nine specialist talks from theNT Geological Survey about new results anddata on the Territory’s geology and resource po-tential from programs under the CORE initiat-ive, as well as results of new research fromGeoscience Australia and CSIRO.

The program includes technical presenta-tions on recent exploration highlights fromcompanies including Teck Australia, Santos,Newmont, Pangaea Resources, IndependenceGroup, Newmarket Gold, Origin Energy, KGLResources and Emmerson Resources. This cov-ers a range of commodities including zinc, oiland gas, copper and gold.

The conference will demonstrate the com-mitment of both government and industry todevelop the North.

The networking opportunities are invaluableas delegates attend from all over Australia andinternationally take part in this key seminar.

Mining and energy are key industries forthe Territory economy and the future ofthese industries is dependent on a healthy ex-ploration sector.

NT Geological Survey executive director IanScrimgeour said AGES was the premier net-working forum for all those interested in min-eral and petroleum exploration in the NT.

“Whether you are already exploring in theNorthern Territory, seeking new explorationopportunities, or looking to network and makecontacts in the NT exploration sector, AGES isthe only event where the NT’s minerals and pet-roleum explorers are all in one place,” Dr Scrim-geour said.

The Northern Territory still remains largelyunexplored, however as more exploration is un-dertaken it is exciting to see the potential formajor new minerals and petroleum discoveries.

For the full program visit ages.nt.gov.au.