Uranium
Uranium Mining in South Australia
South Australia is a significant producer of uranium, operating
the world's largest known uranium resource at Roxby Downs. The three mines in South
Australia are the Olympic Dam mine at Roxby Downs, Beverley, and
Honeymoon. |
Olympic Dam
This mine started when the Whenan shaft was sunk in 1982,
and is Australia's largest underground mine. It is also the world's largest
known uranium resource. Mining started without public consultation firstly
as 'exploration' and then as a trial mine. It was claimed that it was a
copper mine and that the uranium was incidental or a by-product.
The Division of WMC that operated the mine was called the Copper Uranium
Division. There is information on various aspects of the Olympic Dam project
at
http://www.ccsa.asn.au/nic/UMining/.
Beverley
This mine, which is situated east of the Gammon Ranges,
began operating in 1981 as a trial mine. Mining was stopped in 1982 by
the SA Government. Permission for a trial mine was given without public
consultation by the minister for mining, Rob Kerin, in 1996. It is the
second largest uranium deposit in South Australia, and was discovered in
1969. Beverley uses the acid
in-ground leaching method of mining. The mine has already suffered
24 leaks. Only one of these was publicly reported. The latest leak, at
the uranium processing plant, was of 62,000 litres of radioactive solution
containing 8.7 kg of uranium.
http://www.ccsa.asn.au/nic./UMining/
Honeymoon
Uranium was first discovered at the site in 1972. Mining
began in 1981 but was stopped in 1982 by the SA Government. Permission
for a trial mine using acid
in-ground leaching was given without public consultation by the
minister, Rob Kerin, in 1996.
http://www.ccsa.asn.au/nic/UMining/ |
The South Australian Government has provided many millions
of dollars in infrastructure, support services, and natural resources such
as water for uranium mining in South Australia. Low uranium prices have
meant that this money has been repaid at very low rates. The net return
per unit of resource to South Australia has been very poor.
Greater technical detail can be found on this topic by searching through
the publications at http://www.ccsa.asn.au/nic/
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© 2002 Conservation Council of SA.
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