November 26, 2012 3:05 am
In August BHP Billiton canned the Olympic Dam expansion, but since then they have been busy negotiating with the South Australian Government about having the indenture agreement extended on the mine http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/bhp-gets-extension-to-indenture-agreement-with-south-australian-government-for-billion-dollar-olympic-dam-expansion-to-2016/story-e6frg6n6-1226515910321
They are also looking now into expanding Olympic Dam by using a method of mining known, as heap leach mining. It seems they may not even have to produce a seperate Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for this type of operation. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/sa-business-journal/no-full-environmental-impact-study-needed-on-bhp-billitons-rejigged-olympic-dam-expansion-plan-says-sa-premier-jay-weatherill/story-e6fredel-1226516736376
Once again BHP Billiton say jump and the Government says how high.
BHP Billiton are the largest mining company in the world, worth over $160 billion according to its own annual report. It has operations in every continent except the Antarctica. Within its portfolio of resource extraction it produced over 222 million barrels of oil in the 2011/12 financial year. Some of that is from dangerous deep sea drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, the sort of operation that led to the massive BP oil spill in May 2010. It also produces coal over 100 million tonnes of it in the past year . and 3,885 tonnes of uranium. Its products make a massive contribution to destructive climate change and to the profound WMD proliferation and safety risks associated with the nuclear fuel cycle.
Posted by Christina Macpherson
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