Injinoo dancers perform after Ankamuthi elders named the new mining tug Mandang on the Skardon River. Photos: NPARC.
Injinoo dancers have put on a captivating performance after Ankamuthi elders named a new mining tug on the Skardon River.
Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council (NPARC) Mayor Robert Poi Poi and CEO Dalassa Yorkston, as well as Cook MP David Kempton, attended the welcoming ceremony for the Metro Mining vessel on Wednesday (6 May).
The tug was named Mandang, the Ankamuthi word for ‘strong’. Pastor Titom Tamwoy officiated, while George Ropeyarn and Dale Salee cracked a young coconut at the blessing ritual.
Mr Kempton was pleased he was able to attend the ceremony: “What an experience to visit the Bauxite Hills mining project on the Skardon River, operated by Metro Mining.”
The ship was named Mandang, the Ankamuthi word for ‘strong’.
“This is a massive trans-shipment ore project, which employs about 500 people, mostly locals, and exports about seven million tonnes of bauxite annually,” he said on Facebook.
“We visited the floating terminal about 12 miles offshore, where barges are loaded onto ore carriers.
“The ceremony for the launching of the Mandang tugboat was well attended and we were entertained by the Injinoo dancers.”
Metro’s mine which started operating in 2018 is about 140 kilometres south of the tip of Cape York and has a tenement package of about 825 square kilometres. The company has a large First Nations workforce.
Bauxite is mined by front-end loaders, trucked to the river port, screened and put onto barges, which are towed down the Skardon River to an anchorage point at sea, where the ore is then taken to freight vessels.
