Public notice seeking cause as to why items should not be sold and removed from the Ellendale site has been published
| Date: | Thursday, 28 April 2016 |
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Potentially useful equipment from the Ellendale Diamond Site could be up for auction to stakeholders as part of the Department of Mines and Petroleum’s (DMP) clean-up of the site.
Although a significant portion of Ellendale's plant and equipment was sold at auction last year and removed, some items of value still remain on site.
Rather than allowing this equipment to deteriorate over time, DMP intends to provide stakeholders with the chance to purchase these items.
A public notice seeking notification from interested parties as to why the equipment should not be sold has now been published.
DMP’s Acting Executive Director Environment Ms Karen Caple said the future sale of the existing equipment would help to ensure the site remained safe, stable and non-polluting.
"DMP has already undertaken a range of activities at the Ellendale site to manage the site’s environmental and safety risks and make sure it remains viable for responsible resource development in the future," Ms Caple said.
"The sale and removal of the remaining unsold equipment will further assist this work and help to stop potentially useful equipment rusting away and lost to the industry and community.
"Given that a site-wide auction has already been undertaken, only those items where third parties have already indicated an interest will be auctioned."
If no valid objections to the proposed plans to sell the remaining equipment, an auction will be conducted in the future by a qualified auctioneer.
DMP will also liaise with the Ellendale site liquidators to ensure all profits associated with the sale are properly administered.
In July 2015, Ellendale went into administration and has since been gazetted under section 9 (1) of the Mining Rehabilitation Fund Act 2012.
Located approximately 120km east of Derby in the West Kimberley region, Ellendale was the first site to be gazetted under the Mining Rehabilitation Fund Act.
An information sheet providing an update on the work carried out to date was published earlier this month on DMP's website.
