MLN 411, 412, 413 and 424, GR476 Acacia Hills, Annual and Final Report 2018

Abstract

The Titles were granted in 1976 for extractive purposes on the dates shown in Table 1 - Summary of Title Details. The Titles were held in reserve for future extractive (quarrying) purposes. In 2004, CSR Readymix Pty Ltd undertook preparation for an exploration program to determine the extent resources within areas held by the company. The assessment determined that the future demand for hard rock was able to be satisfied by the tiles held within the Sunday Creek or the Acacia area. Given the proximity of the Sunday Creek site to Darwin and surrounding areas, it was decided that extraction of material would focus on Sunday Creek until the depletion of resources, with the Acacia site to be retained in reserve for the future demand for hard rock. The assessment undertaken by CSR Readymix identified that the Acacia site would be ideally situated to provide material for the proposed construction of an additional dam to supply water to the Darwin Region. The dam was to be located adjacent to the Acacia Hill titles and therefore, CSR Readymix and following that, Holcim Australia Pty Limited (Holcim) sought to retain the Titles for the purpose of supplying material for the proposed dam. On 28 July 2017 the subject Titles were transferred from Holcim to Hy-Tec. On 12 December 2017 the DPIR informed Hy-Tec that no renewal would be offered for the Titles due to their location within Reservation of Land (RL) 30617, over an area of land known as the Adelaide River Offstream Water Supply (AROWS). The DPIR letter informed that RL30617 was created for the purpose of strategic planning for the future supply of water to Darwin and that Titles granted for exploration and mining activity would cease upon the expiry date for affected Titles. In a letter to the DPIR dated 18 September 2018 Hy-Tec offered the titles for surrender and subsequently, the DPIR accepted surrender of the Titles on 20 September 2018.