2 — Centralian Advocate, Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Alice Plaza12 Days of

Christmas Winners!Congratulations to the following winnersfrom our Major Prize Draw conducted on

Friday 20th December 2013.

Thank you to all who entered.Kate, Tamara and all of the Alice Plaza Traders would

like to wish everyone a happy, safe Christmas and

look forward to seeing you again soon.

1st Prize – 5 Seater ‘Relaxer’ Spa valued at $8,000. Joan Evans.2nd Prize – Gold & Diamond Ring valued at $4,415. Steve Cole.3rd Prize – Pacific Island Cruise valued at $3,000. Sam Day.

www.transport.nt.gov.au

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT

MVR CENTREPOINT

OFFICE CLOSURE TUESDAY 31 DECEMBER 2013

As of close of business Tuesday 31 December, the

Motor Vehicle Registry Office located in the

Centrepoint Building, Hartley Street will close.

Following the closure, all customers wanting to obtain

an EVIDENCE OF AGE CARD or DRIVER LICENCE

will need to visit the North Stuart Highway Office,

where a full range of MVR services are available .

To ensure a high level of customer service is

maintained in the Alice Springs Region, the following

arrangements will be put in place:

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and phone services will be available early 2014 at

the Greenwell Building, 50 Bath Street

Alice Springs.

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where:

- A licence renewal notice with a barcode has been

received and a new photograph or eyesight test

is not required.

- A vehicle registration renewal notice with a

barcode has been received and a roadworthy

inspection is not required.

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4XLFNSD\�VHUYLFHV�WKURXJK�ZZZ�PYU�QW�JRY�DX��RU�

via phone on 1300 654 628.

For more information, please contact the

Department of Transport on 8951 5551.

Tinh & Lanwish to thank all their

valued customers for

their patronage in 2013.

We wish you all the best for

Christmas and The New Year.

1900 Heffernan Rd

8952 8396

A l i c e V i e t n a m e s e R e s t a u r a n t

Fully licensed - Bookings essential

Alice Vietnamese Restaurant will be closed 23rd, 24th & 25th December and re-open our normal hours from 26th December. We

look forward to seeing you then.

NEWS

Reaching outto the needyMluleki Moyo

ALICE Springs churches aregearing up for Christmasand have vowed to make it ayear to remember for manyless-privileged children inand around Alice.

John Flynn MemorialUniting Church leader theReverend Gerda Olafsensays the congregation hasbeen very generous and thatwill make this year’s Christ-mas special.

‘‘We started preparing forChristmas four weeks be-fore and we call this theadvent period which meanswaiting for Christ,’’ she said.

‘‘We work with one ofAlice Springs’ biggest storesto collect gifts, which wethen distribute to childrenwith particular needs whoseparents have limited means.

‘‘Well-wishers have beengiving donations by placinggifts at Target where wehave a Christmas tree.

‘‘Individual members ofour congregation are verygenerous givers, they havesupported the tear-fundvery well.’’

Desert Life Church pastorKeith Ainge said prep-arations for Christmas wereat an advanced stage andmore than 40 families weregoing to get a hand fromthe church.

‘‘Christmas is a tie to cele-brations for families as wellas individuals.

‘‘Given that there aremany families that struggle,we endeavour to have mem-bers of the church bringfood that is non-perishable.

‘‘We then make those intofood hampers which wethen give to people, someconnected to the church,some not.

‘‘Our target group is any-one we realise needs a hand.

‘‘Usually we help between30 and 40 people or families.

‘‘On Christmas day we willthen hold a service from9am to 10am.’’

Roman Catholic FatherJan Szweda there was a lotin store this Christmas bothspiritually and socially.

‘‘Christmas is a religiousevent,’’ Father Szweda said.

‘‘Therefore spiritual prep-aration is paramount, thetime of preparation is calledAdvent, and is aimed atpreparing Catholics for cele-brating the birth of Christ.

‘‘A Christmas lunch wasorganised for senior par-ishioners. It was held at theOLSH College Bath Streetcampus on December 7.

‘‘The parish communityraised $2500 to help needyfamilies at the time ofChristmas. Food hampershave been donated and thegifts would be distributed tochildren and families intown camps, as well as inoutback communities.

‘‘This is done through theSt Vincent de Paul Society.’’

Tellus mining managingdirector Duncan van derMerwe talks about saltcore samples with NT

Mining Minister WillemWestra van Holthe

Picture: BARRY SKIPSEY

They Tellus it’s a goerMINING REPORTER

Sasha Petrova

THE first exploratory drilling pro-gram in Australia’s largest under-ground rock salt deposit hasreturned viable edible and industrialsalt samples.

New player Tellus Holdings’ pro-posed Chandler Salt Mine project,120km south of Alice Springs, hasmarked another step in the planningprocess with managing directorDuncan van der Merwe saying he was‘‘pleased with the results’’.

After inspections of the samples, Mrvan der Merwe said a leading saltexpert ‘‘could spot no fatal flaws andhe thinks we have a goer’’.

With an exploration target of 4.5 to5 billion tonnes, extending to 23,000years of mine life, Tellus Holdings hasseen expressions of interest frombuyers in China, Japan, Indonesia, thePhilippines and Thailand.

Mr van der Merwe said the companyplanned to sell mainly industrialsalts, as well as high-value edible saltsand fertilisers.

‘‘The industrial salts have got a

lower sale value but there’s a muchlarger market,’’ he said.

The company awarded the firstdrilling project to confirm assump-tions and volume of underground saltsto local company Mitchell Services inearly November as part of of itsdefinitive feasibility study.

Mr van der Merwe said the variousphases of the project had alreadyinjected ‘‘a few million dollars into thelocal economy’’ and the ‘‘unlimited’’supply of underground salt meant jobopportunities for ‘‘generations’’.

Tellus plans on lodging the appli-cation for a mining lease in April 2014.

Ride Dr. Elephant into the new yearHAVE you made plans for New Year’sEve?

Why not come down to the lawns ofthe Juicy Rump at Lasseters HotelCasino and see in the new year the rightway.

With local musician Gareth Dawkinsperforming from 6.30pm, followed byTerritory favourite Dr. Elephant, thisevent guarantees a great evening of liveentertainment.

Lead singer of Dr. Elephant, DamienWicks said the band was looking forwardto the gig.

‘‘I can’t wait, we love coming down toAlice Springs,’’ Damien said.

Dr. Elephant first formed in 2000, and

Damien who is the original member saidthe band had since ‘‘been through manyincarnations’’.

He is now joined by Danny Johnson onguitar, and Ben Robson the on drums.

Playing a range of party favourites,this rock cover band is sure to have youon your feet.

On the night there will also be fire-works at 9pm and midnight and a live DJfrom 12.30am to continue the festivitieswell into the wee hours of 2014.

Sarah Butler, the marketing managerat Lasseters Hotel Casino, and said thatthe free event would be fun for the entirefamily.

Children are welcome until 10pm.

CLARIFICATIONAN article in Friday’s Centralian

Advocate on a bus crash involvinga Wayoutback Tours vehicleraised the point fatigue would be akey consideration in the investi-gation of the accident.

Wayoutback Tours managerDon Wait was quoted in thearticle to say the company waswaiting on information from thepolice investigation. At no pointdid Mr Wait suggest a possiblecause of the accident.

The article implies fatiguewould be a key consideration inthe investigation, as is consistentwith such accident investigations.