Nhulunbuy

Nhulunbuy
The bauxite refinery on the Gove Peninsula near Nhulunbuy
State :  Australia State : Northern Territory Founded : 1972
Coordinates : 12 ° 11 ′  S , 136 ° 47 ′  E Coordinates: 12 ° 11 ′  S , 136 ° 47 ′  E Height : 20  m Area : 7.6  km²
Residents : 3,088 (2016) Population density : 406 inhabitants per km²
Time zone : ACST (UTC + 9: 30) Postal code : 0880
Nhulunbuy

Nhulunbuy , also called Gove , is a place on the northern tip of the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land in the Australian Northern Territory . The mining town was founded in 1972 because of the Gove bauxite mine and refinery there. It is located 996 kilometers east of Darwin and 12 kilometers southeast of the Aboriginal settlement of Yirrkala .

history

The Yolngu Aborigines have lived in the Nhulunbuy area for more than 40,000 years .

In 1803, while circumnavigating Australia, Matthew Flinders encountered a Macassar fleet near present-day town that was gathering sea ​​cucumbers . Macassan Beach , located near Nhulunbuy, was named after them.

In 1955 a bauxite deposit was discovered in the Gove Peninsula area. After the Australian government approved bauxite mining in 1963 , the Yolngu Aborigines protested and presented the Yolngu Bark Petition , a protest note painted on tree bark , to the Australian government . This gave her cause national and international attention. However, they lost in court. Nevertheless, the mining company at the time offered a compensation payment and declared that it would respect the sacred places of the Aborigines. Bauxite mining began in 1972.

Since 2007, the Gove bauxite mine and refinery has been owned by Rio Tinto Alcan Gove with a mining license covering 22,625.7 hectares . Rio Tinto also owns processing and port facilities on the Gove Peninsula, as well as a facility for generating energy to operate the refinery. Gove mining is able to mine 85 million tons of bauxite annually and produce 3.8 million tons of aluminum oxide from it.

Rirratjingu, Gumatj and Galpu Traditional Owners , Northern Land Council and Rio Tinto signed a contract for a mining permit for 42 years until 2053 in 2011.

population

3,088 people lived in Nhulunbuy in 2016. In 2009 Rio Tinto employed 851 people in the mine, including 10 percent Aboriginal people . Rio Tinto Alcan has various accommodations for its staff. This offer ranges from single rooms to houses for families. There are also overnight accommodations for tourists at the Gove Motel and Walkabout Lodge .

In November 2014, Rio Tinto closed the aluminum refinery with around 1,100 workers. This had a strong impact on the population of the small town as a large part of the workers left the town.

Daughters and sons of the place

• Alistair Donohoe (* 1995), cyclist

Infrastructure

The Gove Airport Terminal

A road connection from Darwin is via the Stuart Highway and the 700-kilometer Bulman Track , a road that four-wheel drive vehicles can only use with permission during the dry season. The Rio Tinto personnel are mostly flown in. The airlines Qantas and Airnorth fly to Gove Airport, which is nearby . There is also an option to get to this place by boat.

The place has an infrastructure, including an Arnhem Early Learning Center for Aborigines to take up work at Rio Tinto, a preschool, primary school, high school and a private Christian school. Nhulunbuy has a branch of Charles Darwin University , a public library, Gove District Hospital, a private medical center and a dental service.

climate

Monthly average temperatures and rainfall for Nhulunbuy Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 32.0 31.7 31.5 31.5 30.8 29.5 28.6 29.0 29.8 30.9 31.9 32.4 O 30.8 Min. Temperature (° C) 25.5 25.2 24.9 24.0 23.2 21.5 20.5 19.9 21.1 22.9 25.1 25.9 O 23.3 Precipitation ( mm ) 227.6 234.2 267.8 232.9 83.3 17.0 12.8 4.0 4.0 11.3 29.8 194.2 Σ 1,318.9 Rainy days ( d ) 15.3 15.1 15.7 12.1 8.9 5.4 4.3 2.1 1.2 1.5 2.8 9.5 Σ 93.9 T e m p e r a t u r 32.0 25.5 31.7 25.2 31.5 24.9 31.5 24.0 30.8 23.2 29.5 21.5 28.6 20.5 29.0 19.9 29.8 21.1 30.9 22.9 31.9 25.1 32.4 25.9 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec N i e d e r s c h l a g 227.6 234.2 267.8 232.9 83.3 17.0 12.8 4.0 4.0 11.3 29.8 194.2   Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology : Nhulunbuy DTW Station. Observation period: 1975–1985 (temperatures), 1974–2013 (amount of rain / days). Retrieved December 6, 2013.

landscape

In the vicinity of the place there are bays, rocky cliffs and forests on the rivers. The natural beauties are Little Bondi Beach , Cape Arnhem , the Latram River and Giddy River .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Australian Bureau of Statistics : Nhulunbuy ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} goveonline.com ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Nhulunbuy , in English, accessed January 28, 2013. 
3. ↑ ^{a b} riotintoalcan.com : Gove , in English, accessed January 28, 2013.
4. ↑ riotintoalcan.com (PDF; 513 kB): Gove , in English, accessed on January 28, 2013.
5. ↑ bbc.com , accessed September 3, 2015.