Issues at Operating Uranium Mines and Mills - Olympic Dam, Australia
(last updated 21 July 2010)
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Protesters block road to Olympic Dam uranium mine
An anti-nuclear protester has chained himself to a four-wheel-drive blocking the road to BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam uranium mine in South Australia's far north.
About 40 protesters gathered at the mine site on Friday (July 16) afternoon with the group mostly students from NSW.
Spokeswoman Jay Fletcher said the group did not intend to leave until they had spoken with a representative from the mine.
Another member of the protest group, Zane Alcorn, said their purpose was to highlight the catastrophic effects the mine and its planned expansion would have on traditional owners, their land and future generations.
"Not only is the expansion at Olympic Dam going ahead without the consent of traditional owners, but tens of thousands of gigalitres of water per day is being sucked out of the Artesian Basin on Arabunna land to service the mine," he said.
(AAP July 16, 2010)
Workers exposed to unsafe levels of radiation at Olympic Dam mine: whistleblower
Workers at BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam are being exposed to unsafe levels of radiation, according to a company whistleblower.
BHP Billiton has been warned about the risks at Roxby Downs, but according to South Australian Upper House Greens MP Mark Parnell the company has failed to take action.
Mr Parnell says the levels of polonium-210, the toxic by-product of uranium production, have breached health standards.
The whistleblower produced documents that show BHP uses manipulated averages and distorted sampling to ensure the figures are below the maximum exposure levels set by government, he said.
(Sydney Morning Herald June 4, 2010)
Breakdown of ore haulage system seriously affects Olympic Dam mine production
BHP Billiton says its Olympic Dam mine in outback South Australia is back to full production.
The Clark shaft used to transport ore to the surface was damaged in a haulage mishap last October.
(ABC July 21, 2010)
The failure of a hoist at BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine last October that sent a full skip of ore plummeting hundreds of metres was caused by a computer braking system fault and could cost the company more than $US200 million (A$228.6 million) in lost profit.
Investigations into the failure, which also sent an empty skip hurtling into the mine's headframe at the top of the main shaft, were now largely complete, BHP said yesterday (Feb. 10).
"Detailed investigations by us, with a third-party independent expert, have found that a fault in the logic of the braking system was the root cause of the accident," a BHP spokeswoman said.
"This fault prevented the system's breaking mechanism from engaging fully, which in turn allowed the hoisting system to freefall to the bottom of the shaft," she added.
Mechanical or operator faults have been ruled out.
The October 2009 incident has rendered the Clark shaft unusable and sliced 75 per cent of capacity from the big mine at Roxby Downs in South Australia.
(The Australian Feb. 11, 2010)
BHP Billiton expects its stricken Olympic Dam uranium and copper mine to resume full production between January and March 2010, the firm said on Wednesday (Oct. 21).
The mine is now running at 25 percent of ore-haulage capacity, it added.
(Reuters Oct. 21, 2009)
BHP Billiton has declared force majeure on copper and uranium sales from the big Olympic Dam mine in South Australia, where damage from a plummeting ore skip in its main shaft is expected to reduce capacity to about 20 per cent for up to six months.
(The Australian Oct. 21, 2009)
Mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd will probably not know for two weeks how Tuesday's mechanical failure at its Olympic Dam operation will affect production.
There has been speculation the underground copper/gold and uranium mine in South Australia could lose 80 per cent of production because of the breakdown of one of its two haulage systems.
Nobody was injured when the automatic haulage system, which carries ore from underground to surface processing facilities, collapsed at (2300 AEDT) on Tuesday (Oct. 6).
A secondary haulage system continues to operate at the mine.
(The Sydney Morning Herald Oct. 8, 2009)
First shipment of uranium from Olympic Dam mine to China
BHP Billiton announced the first shipment of uranium from the Olympic Dam mine to unnamed Chinese customers.
(The Age Oct. 1, 2009)
Radiation monitoring of Olympic Dam mine workers has been lessened, Greens say
The Greens say standards for radiation monitoring at the Olympic Dam mine owned by BHP Billiton have been watered down by the South Australian Government.
SA Greens MP Mark Parnell says documents he has obtained under freedom of information raise serious concerns about how often testing for radiation occurs at the mine in outback SA.
He says reports provided to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) by BHP Billiton lack detail about radiation exposure for people working in areas of the uranium and copper mine where the risk is highest.
"Up until 2006 there were between four and eight reports per month of exceedences if you like or dangerous levels - those reports have now faded away to only one in the last 18 months," he said.
(ABC June 19, 2008)
Audit reviews call for improvements of Olympic Dam tailings management
The Olympic Dam uranium mine needs urgent improvements in radioactive waste management and monitoring, according to audit reviews.
As owner BHP Billiton seeks state and federal government approval for a four-fold, A$5 billion expansion at Olympic Dam, concerns about the mine's tailings storage facilities have been raised in the last two audit reviews provided to the Rann Government.
The reviews, obtained by The Australian under Freedom of Information laws, call on government regulators to "encourage" changes to the deposit of tailings. More than 10 million tonnes of tailings a year are placed in ponds near the mine.
The review noted radioactive slurry was deposited "partially off" a lined area of a storage pond, which it believed contributed to greater seepage and rising ground water levels.
The review also criticises the lack of an agreed, accurate formula to determine the rate of evaporation of tailings and how much leaks into the ground.
(Australian March 10, 2006)
BHP Billiton is considering a geothermal power plant for the Olympic Dam mine expansion. The A$1 billion power plant would be built 400 km north of the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia.
Pacific Hydro Ltd believes it could have a 400-Megawatt plant up and running within three or four years.
(Sunday Mail June 16, 2006)
Olympic Dam in northern South Australia is showing promise as another site for a hot rocks energy project. Initial exploration of the site by Western Australian firm Green Rock Energy has found a potential 1,000 Megawatt resource. (ABC Nov. 9, 2005)
> Download Green Rock Energy release Nov. 8, 2005 (PDF)
Green Rock Energy Ltd (formerly Mokuti Mining Ltd, ASX releases ) completed the acquisition of geothermal energy licences over WMC leases in South Australia covering 2700 sqkm around Olympic Dam, where power needs could more than treble in a proposed $5 billion expansion.
(Australian May 12, 2005)
South Australia to investigate bird deaths at tailings dam of Olympic Dam mine
A South Australian government taskforce will examine a huge spike in the number of birds killed at the Olympic Dam uranium mine, after more than 100 were found dead over four days in late December 2004.
The deaths were recorded at the mine's tailings dam in outback South Australia, which spans 400ha and is where solid and evaporated acid liquid waste from some of the uranium mine's operations is stored.
"Unfortunately the tailings system contains chemicals and that is what causes harm to birds," WMC spokesman Richard Yeeles said.
(Australian Jan. 11, 2005)
South Australia plans nuclear waste dump site at Olympic Dam mine
The South Australian Government has entered a formal agreement with WMC to examine the establishment of a radioactive waste dump at the company's Olympic Dam uranium mine in the state's north.
(ABC July 14, 2004)
WMC considers tripling rather than doubling of Olympic Dam capacity
On June 18, 2002, WMC outlined a multi-billion-dollar expansion of the Olympic Dam copper-uranium mine in South Australia.
Early planning has annual copper production being more than doubled, from 235,000 tonnes to 600,000 tonnes. Uranium production would also more than double, to 8000 tonnes a year, making Olympic Dam the biggest uranium mine in the world, although WMC faces the challenge of first finding buyers for the radioactive material.
(Sydney Morning Herald June 19, 2002)
A fire involving about one million litres of kerosene broke out just after midday on 21 Oct., 2001, at the solvent extraction plant of WMC's Olympic Dam copper/uranium mine. The blaze was contained just before 3:30pm. The fire is in the same area as a blaze on 23 Dec., 1999, that caused A$10 million worth of damage. (ABC News 21 Oct 2001)
The new fire caused damages above A$20 million. During the rebuilding period, the mine's annual uranium output would fall by 1500 tonnes from 4500 tonnes. (News Limited 23 Oct 2001)
WMC believes "the most likely cause was a static electricity discharge at a location where polyethylene piping carries a kerosene-like solvent." (WMC 13 Feb 2002)
WMC considers doubling of Olympic Dam mine capacity
Currently, WMC is in the process of lifting output from 200,000 to 235,000 tonnes a year of refined copper. WMC already has environmental approval to go to 350,000 tonnes and will now examine an even bigger step-up to 400,000 tonnes to 500,000 tonnes, with an associated increase in uranium production, most likely in five to 10 years. (Herald Sun 15 Aug 2001)
On 23 December 1999, a fire at the Olympic Dam solvent collection pond adjacent to the solvent extraction plant interrupted power to the mine, plant and Roxby Downs township. Employees in the area were evacuated and there were no injuries.
WMC and CFS fire crews contained the fire to the solvent extraction area. It started shortly after 7.30 pm and burned until about 3 am the next day. A fireball could be seen from 25 km away.
Uranium production will be down 200 tonnes to about 4,100 tonnes in the year 2000 because of a temporary loss of some solvent extraction facilities.
According to WMC corporate affairs manager Richard Yeeles, "there are no radiation issues associated with the fire".
(WMC, The Australian 24 Dec. 1999)
On 23-26 May 2000, about 70 protestors blocked the main access road to the Olympic Dam mine and plant. (WMC News Relases 23/24/26 May 2000)
About 50 protesters blocked the entrance to WMC's Olympic Dam mine site in South Australia on 14 September 1999, in protest against uranium mining.
The protest involves representatives from the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta,
Arabunna and Kookatha Aboriginal peoples who also joined the Humps Not
Dumps anti-nuclear camel trekkers.
The protesters raised their concerns about the lasting effects of tailings dams at Olympic Dam, and about production of uranium at the site which ended up as nuclear waste. (ABC News 14 Sep 1999)
> View: Olympic Dam Expansion (Planning SA)
> View: Olympic Dam Expansion (Government of South Australia)
> View: Olympic Dam Expansion Project (BHP Billiton)
Protest in Adelaide against expansion plans for Olympic Dam uranium mine
Adelaide residents protested against BHP Billiton's expansion plans on Thursday (Nov. 26).
They protested outside the company's Grenfell Street office in Adelaide, on the same day as BHP Billiton's annual general meeting.
"Adelaide residents this morning protested in solidarity with traditional owners struggling at the hands of BHP Billiton," event coordinator Riley Ashton said.
Referring to the Kokatha and Arabunna as examples of communities he believed were being "kicked off their land", Mr Ashton said: "Olympic Dam has been causing cultural genocide and environmental destruction since operations began over 20 years ago".
"This needs to stop, we are standing here today in solidarity with the Kokatha and Arabunna communities impacted by Olympic Dam's operations..."
(Roxby Downs Sun Dec. 2, 2009)
In view of dust storms, BHP Billiton told to address dust risks from Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion
South Australia's Mineral Resources Development Minister Paul Holloway has told the SA Parliament BHP Billiton will need to prepare a supplementary environmental impact statement addressing dust management.
He says the company will have to give an assurance it can manage dust from proposed open cut mining before permission is given for expansion of its Olympic Dam uranium, copper and gold mine at Roxby Downs.
Academy Award-nominated documentary maker David Bradbury claimed this week that red dust dumped onto east coast cities was a reason to be concerned about BHP Billiton's proposal to turn its uranium mine into an open cut operation.
The Greens say the dangers of an Olympic Dam mine expansion spreading radioactive dust across wide areas of Australia will be an issue for centuries to come.
(ABC Sep. 25, 2009)
A team of Australian scientists are analysing the dust that has engulfed eastern Australia this week to see whether it is dangerous.
The dust storm is believed to have originated around Woomera in outback South Australia near the massive Olympic Dam uranium mine, prompting fears it was radioactive and dangerous.
Climatologist Professor Nigel Tapper, from Melbourne's Monash University, played down the risks to humans but said the dust might threaten important eco-systems such as the Great Barrier Reef.
"Certainly the dust storm could have potentially come from those outback areas, we believe it has mainly come from dry lake and creek beds and elsewhere in the Lake Eyre basin," he told AAP.
(The Age Sep. 25, 2009)
South Australian Government demands BHP Billiton to address environmental concerns before Olympic Dam mine expansion
The South Australian Government has told BHP Billiton to address a range of concerns before the Olympic Dam mine expansion at Roxby Downs can go ahead.
The Government has published its submission on the company's draft environmental impact statement (EIS), which was released in May.
It says BHP Billiton needs to investigate further any radiation and air pollution impact on the Roxby Downs community, along with water, waste and transport issues.
The Government's response says some aspects of the EIS are "not substantiated", "unjustified" and "insufficient".
On the desalination impact for marine species in Spencer Gulf, it says: "While the EIS indicates that the proponent considers there is no likely impact on [cuttlefish], the Department of Environment and Heritage is still very concerned about potential impacts on the cuttlefish."
"There is no justification for the statement that the [proposed] desalination plant's impact on the tiger pipefish will be negligible."
"The evaluation of potential impacts to the blue swimmer crab is not substantiated."
The desalination plant is to be built to supply the heavy water needs of a mining expansion.
(ABC Aug. 24, 2009)
> Download Consolidated South Australian Government submission to BHP Billiton's proposed Olympic Dam expansion Environmental Impact Statement, 24 Aug 2009
Eminent scientists warn of "mind-blowing" health risk from Olympic Dam mine expansion
A group of eminent scientists and doctors, including a Nobel Prize-winner and two Australians of the Year, has warned of the "mind-blowing risk" to the health of South Australians from the Olympic Dam expansion.
The experts warn of arsenic, mercury and uranium which will enter undergroundwater and the atmosphere.
The 15 have written to the State Government warning that up to 5.5 million tonnes of toxic waste in dams with an area of 4000 ha will reach ground water within 150 years and dust storms could blow thousands of tonnes from the 242 million tonnes of waste into the atmosphere and all over the state for hundreds of years.
"To use a non-medical term, these proposals are mind-blowing in the potential risks to this and future generations," the letter states.
"There will be direct adverse health impacts and also impacts on future generations."
The medical experts recommend the project be delayed until after health impact studies can be undertaken and that BHP be made to put aside funds to pay for the health effects for "centuries".
The letter is signed by, among others, Nobel Prize-winner and Australian of the Year Professor Peter Doherty, Australians of the Year Professor Gustav Nossal and Professor Fiona Stanley, former Dean of the University of Adelaide Medical School Professor Bob Douglas and Executive Dean of Health Sciences at Flinders University Professor Michael Kidd.
(Adelaide Now Aug. 18, 2009)
Balloon protest over Olympic Dam mine expansion
Hundreds of black balloons symbolising carbon emissions have been displayed outside Parliament House in Adelaide by opponents of the proposed Olympic Dam mine expansion.
The Greens and supporters displayed more than 600 balloons which they say represent potential carbon pollution output if BHP Billiton expands the mine.
David Noonan from the Australian Conservation Foundation says the South Australian Government should also stop BHP Billiton from building a desalination plant near Whyalla as part of the mine expansion.
(ABC Aug. 7, 2009)
Parliamentary committee recommends different site be found for desalination plant needed for the planned expansion of the Olympic Dam mine
A South Australian parliamentary committee has unanimously recommended that a different site be found for a proposed desalination plant needed for the planned expansion of the Olympic Dam uranium and copper mine in outback SA.
Presiding member of the Environment, Resources and Development Committee Lyn Breuer says it has been told Point Lowly on upper Spencer Gulf would be the worst possible site for a plant to serve BHP Billiton's water needs for a proposed expansion of mining.
Ms Breuer says the main concern about Point Lowly is that brine from the plant would not disperse properly and would damage marine life, including cuttlefish breeding areas.
(ABC Aug. 6, 2009)
Olympic Dam expansion would counteract South Australia's greenhouse gas emission reduction target
BHP Billiton's proposed multi-billion-dollar expansion of its Olympic Dam mine will increase South Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 12 per cent, casting doubt on Mike Rann's climate change credentials, environmentalists said yesterday (July 28).
The Australian Conservation Foundation said BHP Billiton was seeking government approval to increase Olympic Dam's greenhouse emissions by at least 4.1 million tonnes a year.
The Premier, who is also South Australia's Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change, has pledged as part of the state's strategic plan to meeting the Kyoto target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 108 per cent of 1990 levels by 2012.
But the ACF says the Olympic Dam expansion, which would create the world's largest open pit mine, 560km north of Adelaide, would cause a "blow out" to the state's current emissions of 33 million tonnes a year.
(The Australian July 29, 2009)
Australian Conservation Foundation: Olympic Dam expansion over-sized, subsidised and leaky
The Australian Conservation Foundation has revealed BHP plans to expand the Olympic Dam uranium and copper mine much further than is outlined in its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
The company has applied for State government approval to extract up to 1 million tonnes of copper product a year, even though the EIS only examines an expansion of up to 750,000 tonnes of copper product a year.
Radioactive waste from the mine, damage to the marine environment from desalination and greenhouse pollution from additional energy demand may all be one third worse than envisaged by the company's EIS.
The EIS shows BHP is cost cutting on environmental protection by designing its 'tailings storage facility' to leak an average of 3 million litres of radioactive liquid waste a day, every day, over decades of proposed mining.
BHP plans to line only 15 per cent of the proposed 44 square kilometre tailings facility that will be up to 65 metres high. This could be leaking 8 million litres of liquid waste by 2020.
BHP is also dipping into the public purse to dig the world's largest open pit mine by taking more than A$350 million in diesel fuel rebates over five years - more than is proposed to be paid to the State in royalties from the existing underground mine over the same period.
(ACF June 2, 2009)
Olympic Dam expansion EIS rejected by the Maduwonga people
The original custodians of the land in and around Roxby Downs have rejected BHP Billiton's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) into the expansion of its Olympic Dam uranium mine.
The Maduwonga say the 17,000 hectares of land that will need to be cleared to make way for the mine will desecrate the most sacred sites in their family's history.
BHP Billiton's 4,000 page EIS outlines native title payments and employment for Maduwonga people.
A Maduwonga elder, Isabel Dingaman, says developing the open cut mine would be going against the wishes of her ancestors.
"All the old men, they said 'no destruction of sacred sites', the old people loved the land, we still love it and we still carrying on the tradition," she said.
(ABC May 4, 2009)
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Olympic Dam expansion project released for comment
Please make your submission in writing during the public consultation period - 1 May to 7 August 2009.
> View: Proposed Olympic Dam Expansion (SA Government)
> Download: Draft Environmental Impact Statement (BHP Billiton) [from 3pm Friday, 1 May 2009]
Olympic Dam expansion EIS - now completed - won't be released until May 1; comment period extended to 14 weeks
The long-awaited study into the environmental effects of what will be the world's biggest copper and uranium mine, BHP Billiton's massive Olympic Dam expansion near Roxby Downs in the state's far north, is finally complete. But the public can't see it.
The environmental impact statement won't be released until May 1, according to Mines Minister Paul Holloway - and South Australians will have just eight weeks to make a response.
(The Independent Weekly Feb. 28, 2009)
On March 25, 2009, South Australian Premier Mike Rann announced that the consultation period has now been extended to 14 weeks.
(The Independent Weekly Mar. 25, 2009)
Aboriginal elder takes on BHP over planned expansion of Olympic Dam mine
An Aboriginal elder has taken on the heavyweights at BHP's annual general meeting to urge the mining giant to abandon plans to expand its Olympic Dam mine because it was taking "sacred water".
Kevin Buzzacott addressed the board of the world's biggest miner, asking them to stop the planned expansion of the copper, gold and uranium mine in South Australia.
"Do not expand this mine. We don't want an open cut mine; we do not want any more water taken out of the Great Artesian Basin; we want that to stop," Mr Buzzacott said.
He was supported by about 100 protesters who gathered on the Melbourne Park lawn outside the venue to oppose the expansion, which would make Olympic Dam one of the largest mines in the world.
(The Age Nov. 27, 2008)
BHP intends to have first stage of Olympic dam expansion in production by 2013
On Oct. 31, 2008, BHP Billiton said it plans to have the first of five planned stages of expansion at its Olympic Dam mine in production by 2013.
The first phase of expansion is to optimise the existing underground operation and increase its production capacity to 200,000 tonnes of copper, 4500 tonnes of uranium and 120,000 ounces of gold.
The development of the open pit is to take five years with the ore processing expansion to be developed in three stages.
The mine has a capacity to produce 180,000 tonnes of copper and 4000 tonnes of uranium per year, with the staged expansion looking to increase copper and uranium output to 730,000 and 19,000 tonnes, respectively.
(The Australian, Oct. 31, 2008 )
NT Government invites comment on EIS draft guidelines for increasing uranium transport from Olympic Dam to Darwin
As part of the proposed expansion BHP Billiton is proposing to export copper concentrate and uranium oxide through the Port of Darwin via the Adelaide to Darwin rail line.
Northern Territory Environment Minister Alison Anderson has determined that the proposal is considered environmentally significant requiring preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Australian, South Australian and Northern Territory governments.
Comments must be submitted by 31 October 2008.
> View NT Gov. media release 17 Oct 2008
> Download draft guidelines for Olympic Dam Expansion (NT Transport Option) project
Scientists denounce location of proposed desalination plant for Olympic Dam mine as inappropriate (South Australia)
Three hundred residents from the Port Hughes on the Yorke Peninsula attended a public meeting this month where marine ecologist Toby Bolton warned that too little was known about the cumulative, long-term effects of desalination plants for them to be regarded as the solution to the nation's water shortages.
One of the three desalination plants is proposed by BHP Billiton in the upper reaches of Spencer Gulf to feed its expanded Olympic Dam uranium mine.
Dr Bolton said it was difficult to think of a more inappropriate location than BHP's proposed Spencer Gulf plant. It would operate in an area that combined poor tidal exchange with mangrove and samphire swamps that nurtured organisms for the marine food chain such as giant cuttlefish and the area's prized whiting.
Dr Bolton, from Flinders University's Lincoln Marine Science Centre at Port Lincoln, said he did not oppose desalination plants that were in open ocean where strong tidal currents dispersed the waste brine.
He is one of five South Australian scientists who last month wrote to the State Government warning it of the dangers of desalination when so little was known about its long-term effects on marine life.
(The Age May 31, 2008)
BHP considers export of unsmelted Olympic Dam copper / uranium concentrate to China
In view of China's expected serious over-capacity of copper processing, BHP Billiton has asked the federal Government to approve the export of uranium-bearing copper concentrate to China.
BHP's next chief executive, Marius Kloppers, met Industry Minister Ian MacFarlane to signal a formal request to directly ship up to 1.2 million tonnes of Olympic Dam copper concentrate a year, rather than convert the ore into metal at the mine site.
The idea means that BHP would be, by stealth, selling uranium directly to China, which is why the company needs to secure federal endorsement.
The export copper concentrate would contain relatively low levels uranium. But even at the expected 0.01 per cent to 0.15 per cent concentrations, BHP would still be shipping up to 2500 tonnes of uranium to Chinese smelters each year.
It is not yet clear whether BHP would propose, or be required, to repatriate that uranium. Any sale of the uranium to China's nuclear industry would first require the finalisation of the bilateral safeguards agreement which is part of the Australia-China Nuclear Transfer Agreement signed in April 2007.
Export of the concentrate rather than metal would mean that the proposed expansion would concern the Olympic Dam mine only, but not the on-site smelter.
(The Australian 12 July 2007)
Fishermen slam site selection for proposed water desalination plant for Olympic Dam mine expansion
BHP Billiton has been challenged by the fishing industry, scientists and environmentalists to justify its selection of the shallow, tidal Spencer Gulf for a massive desalination plant to supply an expanded Roxby Downs uranium and copper mine.
(Australian Mar. 15, 2007)
Russia's Tenex seeks participation in Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion project
Russia's Techsnabexport (Tenex) is
negotiating with BHP Billiton for a role in the development of Olympic Dam, the world's biggest uranium project, in Australia, Vadim Zhivov, the company's first deputy general director, told a press conference in Moscow.
The next round of talks with BHP Billiton is planned in January 2007. (Itar-Tass Dec. 15, 2006)
BHP Billiton to investigate desalination plant to supply Olympic Dam expansion with water
BHP Billiton will investigate building a $300 million desalination plant off South Australia to provide the water needed for its $5 billion expansion of the Olympic Dam mine.
The company and the SA government have agreed to investigate the desalination plant on Spencer Gulf and a $400 million pipeline to supply the extra 120 million litres of water a day.
The desalination plant would not only avoid the need for BHP to take more water from either the River Murray or the Great Artesian Basin but would also supply quality water to Whyalla and other Eyre Peninsular towns.
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said the announcement that no additional artesian water would be used to service the mine was good news.
(The Australian Feb. 17, 2006)
Public comment invited on Draft Guidelines/Issues Paper for Olympic Dam expansion Environmental Impact Statement
The Commonwealth Minister for the Environment and Heritage (DEH) and the South
Australian Minister for Mineral Resources Development (Planning SA) will be jointly assessing the environmental impacts of a proposed expansion of the Olympic Dam Mine to enable production to be increased from the currently approved level of 350,000 tonnes per annum (t/a) of copper and associated products, to up to 1,000,000 t/a of copper and associated products. According to the Draft Guidelines/Issues Paper, the corresponding uranium output would be up to 30,000 t/a (up from currently 4000 t/a)!
> Download Planning SA Advertisement Nov. 18, 2005 (PDF)
> Download DRAFT GUIDELINES/ISSUES PAPER For an ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT on the proposed expansion of the Olympic Dam operations at Roxby Downs , Planning SA, Primary Industries and Resources SA, November 2005 (2.2MB PDF) · alternate source (DEH)
The final guideline was released on Feb. 10, 2006:
> Download GUIDELINES For an ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT on the proposed expansion of the Olympic Dam operations at Roxby Downs, January 2006 (2MB PDF)
> See also:
Planning SA Major Project Assessment ·
Planning SA Major Development Panel
DEH Referral
Protest on expansion of Olympic Dam mine ground water use
On Oct. 26, 2005, environmentalists held a peaceful protest outside BHP Billiton's Adelaide office in opposition to the company's plan to take five times more water from the threatened Great Artesian Basin (GAB) to expand the Roxby Downs mine.
BHPB has applied for a licence to take an additional 120 million litres of GAB water daily free in the assessment of its uranium/copper mine expansion plan.
This is in addition to the daily extraction of 33 million litres.
David Noonan from the Australian Conservation Foundation said the mine already was the largest single-site industrial user of ground water in the southern hemisphere.
"And now BHPB proposes to take one third of all the GAB waters that flow into SA each year," he said. "That could kill the basin and the Mound Springs."
(Advertiser Oct. 27, 2005)
BHP Billiton commences environmental assessment of proposed expansion at Olympic Dam mine
"BHP Billiton has today commenced the environmental assessment of its proposed A$5 billion expansion at its Olympic Dam operation in South Australia with the lodgement of the project proposal to the Federal and State Governments.
While this does not signal BHP Billiton's formal commitment to undertake further expansion at Olympic Dam it does mark the beginning of a two-year process of scientific analysis and extensive public consultation."
(BHP Billiton Aug. 19, 2005)
- 3 Feb 2009: A spill of approximately 250 m3 of tailings occurred when a tailings line failed causing tailings slurry to spray onto southern wall of Tailings Cell 4.
- 10 Dec 2008: Approximately 80 m3 of feed from the tailings leach tank overflowed the bund in the processing plant area.
- 8 Oct 2008: 1-2 m3 Liquor containing ammonium diuranate (ADU) escaped from a pressurised precipitation tank
- 25 Aug 2008: Ammonium diuranate (ADU) detected in sub-potable water
- 20 Mar 2008: Approximately 70 m3 of tailings escaped into the tailings pipeline corridor from a pipe failure.
- 18 Feb 2008: Approximately 270 m3 of tailings escaped into the tailings pipeline corridor from a pipe failure.
- 1 Jan 2008: A flexible section of pipe failed causing some 30 m3 of tailings material to be discharged beyond the secondary containment area but remained within the tertiary containment.
- 10 Oct 2007: approx. 50 cubic meters of liquor from the solvent extraction area overflowed the HDPE lined scuttle pond into an adjoining unlined overflow pond.
- 29 Sep 2007: approx. 70 cubic meters of tailings leach overflowed a bund containing the Tails Leach Tank No. 4.
- 20 Apr 2005: spill of 28 cubic meters of tailings slurry. (WMC)
- 6 Jan 2005: spill of 117 cubic meters of tailings liquid. (WMC)
- 10 Sep 2004: spill of 250 cubic meters of evaporation liquor. (WMC)
- 21 May 2004: spill of 460 cubic meters of process liquor comprising mostly copper with a residual 0.014% (140 ppm) uranium content. (WMC)
- 9 Feb. 2004: spill of 25 cubic meters of tailings solids and liquor. (WMC)
- 15 Dec. 2003: spill of 145 cubic meters of process liquor containing 0.0036% [36 ppm] uranium. (WMC)
- 19 Oct. 2003: spill of 130 cubic meters of liquor containing 0.26% copper and 0.022% [220 ppm] uranium, overlapping the eastern wall of Evaporation Pond 4B as a result of wave action caused by strong winds. (PIRSA)
- 15 Oct. 2003: spill of 110 cubic meters of process liquor containing 0.029% uranium. (WMC)
- 20 Aug. 2003: spill of 63 cubic meters of tailings solids and liquor, containing about 0.03% (300 ppm) residual uranium. (WMC)
- 18 Feb. 2003: spill of 210 cubic metres of acidic raffinate liquor containing 172 ppm uranium due to a pipe failure in the hydrometallurgical area. (ABC Feb. 19, 2003; PIRSA)
- Dec. 2001: More than 420,000 litres of mining slurry containing 0.1% uranium accidentally spilled from a holding tank (The Australian Jan. 24, 2002)
- 2001: six other spills reported to the Government (The Australian Jan. 24, 2002)
> see also: Olympic Dam Incident Summary (PIRSA)
> see also: Olympic Dam news (WMC)