Antinuclear

Hype about Olympic Damn Uranium Mine – too good to be true?

Olympic Dam: mining’s double century resource, In Daily, KEVIN NAUGHTON | 20 AUGUST 2014 “…..Outlining its new corporate strategy in a global statement last night, BHP listed Olympic Dam as a core asset with a longer life than any other asset in his portfolio…….The limits of the mine’s mineralisation is yet to be determined; however, it remains a resource that is difficult to recover and process……..

Shortly after picking up the asset, BHP began work on a major expansion of the mine.
It aimed to triple production by removing the dirt above the resource and building a massive open cut mine.

The capital cost of that project didn’t stack up when presented to the company’s board in 2012 and the project was cancelled.
BHP is now working on a longer, slower extraction process. It’s currently conducting research trials at geology laboratory Bureau Veritas’s Adelaide site.

The mining process called heap leaching is being tested in a three-year trial. The ore is “heaped” and a mix of acids and other chemicals drip through the ore.
It’s still in its experimental stage and any expansion of the mine is at least six years away……..http://indaily.com.au/business/2014/08/20/olympic-dam-mining/

August 20, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | General News