- Olympic Dam, South Australia
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Olympic Dam 
Main shafts, 2009Location Location in Australia
Olympic Dam30°26′40″S 136°52′00″E / 30.44444°S 136.8666667°ECoordinates: 30°26′40″S 136°52′00″E / 30.44444°S 136.8666667°E
Location Olympic Dam State 
South AustraliaCountry Australia Owner Company BHP Billiton Year of acquisition 2005 Production Products copper
uranium
gold
silverHistory Opened 1988 Olympic Dam is a mining centre in South Australia located some 550 km NNW of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is the site of an extremely large iron oxide copper gold deposit producing copper, uranium, gold and silver. The site hosts an underground mine as well as an integrated metallurgical processing plant. It is the fourth largest copper deposit and the largest known single deposit of uranium in the world, though uranium represents only a minority of the mine's total revenue.
Contents
Operations
Monument at the discovery hole of Olympic Dam, RD1
Chalcopyrite-rich ore specimen from Olympic DamThe deposit was discovered by Western Mining Corporation in 1975 near Roxby Downs Sheep Station and started production in 1988. It now belongs to BHP Billiton, which acquired WMC Resources in 2005. The mine currently operates by an underground mining method called sublevel open stoping, using modern and highly productive mining equipment. The March 2005 mine production rate is an annualised 9.1 million tonnes making it one of Australia's larger mines. 2005 metal production is thought to be in excess of 220,000 tonnes of copper, 4500 tonnes of uranium oxide, plus gold and silver. The copper and uranium oxide are exported through Port Adelaide. Most of the mine workers live in the nearby towns of Roxby Downs and Andamooka. Regular flights to Olympic Dam Airport serve Olympic Dam.
The Olympic Dam mine uses 35 million litres of Great Artesian Basin water each day, making it the largest industrial user of underground water in the southern hemisphere.[1] Water is pumped along an underground pipeline from two bore fields which are located 110 km and 200 km to the north of the mine.[2] The salty bore water requires desalination before it is used. Some studies have indicated that extraction of water is causing nearby mound springs to dry which is impacting rare and endangered flora and fauna [3].
Contaminated water from mining operations is passed through a series of sealed ponds where it evaporates.[2]
Expansion
The Olympic Dam expansion will complete the pre-feasibility stage during 2008, and the first step of expansion is scheduled for completion by late 2013. Further development is planned to take the mine production rate to some 72 million tonnes per year and 730,000 tonnes copper, 19,000 tonnes of uranium oxide and 25 t of gold per year. The mine will at this point also ship ore concentrates to smelters in China besides refined copper and uranium concentrate.[4]
As of 2007, BHP Billiton has attracted some public attention for delaying the release of its environmental impact statement for the Olympic Dam expansion, and for the company's response to inconsistencies in the scope and configuration of the proposed expansion.[5]
In December 2008, South Australia's Premier Mike Rann moved to end uncertainty over the Olympic Dam project, by revealing advice from BHP Billiton that the project would proceed as an open-cut operation.[6] On 10 October 2011, Federal Government approval for the mine expansion, which will make it world's largest open-cut mine, was given.[7]
See also
- Kevin Buzzacott
- List of Australian inquiries into uranium mining
- Uranium mining in Australia
- Uranium ore deposits
References
- ^ Indigenous nuclear campaigner wins national environment award
- ^ a b Pigram, John J. (2007). Australia's Water Resources: From use to management. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Pubishing. p. 112. ISBN 9780643094420.
- ^ Keane, D, 1997, The Sustainability of Use of Groundwater from the Great Artesian Basin, with Particular Reference to the South-Western Edge of the Basin and Impact on the Mound Springs, Environmental Engineering, RMIT, 76 p.
- ^ World Nuclear News - BHP Billiton outlines Olympic Dam grand plans
- ^ Uranium mining and the question of corporate social responsibility
- ^ $7bn BHP Billiton mine giant to go ahead: Mike Rann
- ^ "Huge Olympic Dam mine expansion wins federal nod". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 10 October 2011. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-10/eis-mining-olympic-dam-bhp-billiton/3458896. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
External links
- South Australian History
- Infomine Minesites
- BHP Billiton
- An Analysis of BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam Upgrade
- Social and Ecological Impact of Water Extraction for a Copper-Uranium Mine
Localities of the Municipal Council of Roxby Downs Roxby Downs · Olympic DamCategories:- Towns in South Australia
- Copper mines in Australia
- Uranium mines in Australia
- Gold mines in South Australia
- Silver mines in Australia
- Mining towns in South Australia
- Underground mines in Australia
- Far North (South Australia)
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