News

Kara Resources Pty Ltd (Kara Resources) is a subsidiary of Hallett Resources Pty Ltd and operates various construction materials operations throughout South Australia. Over a period of approximately 10 years, Kara Resources has been pursuing the development of a northern quarry asset in the Nain region to support delivery of construction materials that align with our vertically integrated concrete business.

Kara Resources already hold an approved Extractive Minerals Lease (EML) in the Nain area (EML 5686) that was registered in 1990. An expanded area was applied for to the north and west of this current tenement. On 23 December 2020, EML 6521 was granted to Kara Resources by the Department for Energy and Mining (DEM) after consideration and assessment of the Mining Lease Proposal against requirements under the Mining Act 1971. The total site area of the two (2) tenements is now 80.65 hectares, refer below to Diagram 1 – Tenement Areas for an understanding of the areas approved by the DEM.

Since pursuing the development of the Nain Quarry site, Hallett Resources have had the opportunity to purchase the Truro Hardrock Quarry located east of Truro, entered via the Sturt Highway. The opportunity to purchase the Truro Quarry asset has reduced the immediate requirement to develop the Nain Hardrock Quarry.

In order to operate on the Nain Quarry, firstly, the business still has social and regulatory obligations to withhold prior to physically operating the site. From a regulatory perspective, a Program for Environment Protection and Rehabilitation (PEPR) has to be developed in conjunction with community input and with incorporation of the Lease Conditions provided to Kara Resources as a result of the approval of the tenement. A Community Engagement Plan (CEP) is to be developed to the satisfaction of the Director of Mines and a Communications Protocol is also to be developed. This CEP document will be developed in accordance with the guidelines of the IAP2 engagement framework. Socially, the business is committed to further engagement with stakeholders in the development of the PEPR document to ensure transparent opportunities for engagement and feedback are provided.

For the foreseeable future, there is no short-term prospects of operating the quarry within the next 3-5 year period. The purchase of the Truro Quarry has for now, provided a supply chain capable of securing raw materials to our internal and external market requirements. Kara Resources will commit to liaising with stakeholders at least 12 months out from inception of quarry operations and will be engaging with stakeholders in the development of the CEP and PEPR documents prior to being authorised to operating the quarry under the regulatory framework (Mining Act 1971 and Mining Regulations 2020).

The business appreciates your interest to date in the lead up to the approval of the tenement and look forward to ongoing engagement in the coming years.

In the meantime, if you have any feedback or questions regarding the Nain Quarry, please contact us via email at sales@hallettresources.com.au.

Following a successful 2017 Hallett Concrete and Hallett Resources is poised for a challenging and exciting 2018. We are pleased to update the market on two of our key strategic initiatives as follows.

Earlier this week we finalised the purchase of the Truro Hard Rock Quarry from the Topcoat Asphalt business. This is a high quality, long life resource that will enable us to continue to grow our integrated construction materials business. We have been lucky enough to secure a long term agreement to supply Topcoat Asphalt with asphalt aggregates and we thank them for their trust and look forward to delighting them with our service and attention. We also look forward to welcoming new team members in February from the incumbent contract crushing business located on site “Smithy’s Crushing” whom we also have an agreement with to purchase the existing on site assets. Great people are hard to find and we look forward to welcoming the Smithy’s Crushing team members into the MSP Group family. It has been a great team effort to pull this deal together however I must acknowledge Steve Seal who has successfully led the process from start to finish. We look forward to growing this business over coming years.

Our new Mile End concrete plant has recently passed several major milestones in gaining final regulatory and planning approval and also enjoying strong progress in the pre-fabrication construction of the plant. This plant will be capable of 180m3 per hour and will be a state of the art wet batch plant, unlike anything ever seen in South Australia. This strategic investment fits perfectly with our goals to grow our McLaren Vale quarry and transport businesses and is superbly geographically located to leverage key growth areas of the market. We expect to commission this plant in late April and be open for business in May.

I would like to thank and congratulate all our direct team members and support services staff who have contributed to our successful year. I would like to thank our suppliers for their support and most importantly a huge thankyou to our customers for their ongoing support and continuing to place their faith in us to service their needs. From the Hallett Concrete and Hallett Resources team we wish you and your family a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.