South Australia better off without the Great Big New Uranium Mine?
The union movement sees an upside to the delay at Olympic Dam, urging the state government to use it to fight for a better deal for SA.
SA Unions state secretary Janet Giles said benefits from the mining industry should flow to the whole community, and the state government would be wise to show caution when dealing with BHP Billiton in the future.
Olympic delay no mining death knell Sky News, August 24, 2012 South Australia’s peak mining group says BHP Billiton’s decision to delay the expansion at Olympic Dam is not all doom and gloom.
Chief executive Jason Kuchel said SA’s mining industry had diversified dramatically over the past decade and the state currently had 20 major mines in production with many more projects in the pipeline…..
‘South Australia has a lot on the go with several new mining regions, exciting oil and gas developments, and a multitude of small and mid-tier miners who collectively could bring just as much, if not more, benefit to the state than the expansion of Olympic Dam.’ Continue reading
South Australia just escaped a very poor deal of Olympic Dam as “China’s quarry”
SA government now wary of BHP: premier, Yahoo Finance, AAP – Wed, Aug 22, 2012 “…He [Premier Jay Weatherill ] said South Australia was now entitled to be wary when dealing with the company in future and warned the government would take a tougher approach to negotiations if asked to approve expansion a third time.
“We’ve been given to understand that BHP were proceeding with an expansion once. We’ve been given to believe that BHP will proceed with an expansion twice,” Mr Weatherill said. “If they come to us and seek permissions and approvals on a third
occasion, we will be taking a different approach to the negotiations….
the Greens said the delay was a “get-out-of-jail card” giving the government the chance to negotiate a much better deal.
“The 2011 deal was economically irresponsible, environmentally reckless and would have left South Australia as little more than China’s quarry,” Greens MP Mark Parnell said. “Despite giving the company nearly everything it wanted, it still
didn’t stack up economically.”… Continue reading
Decision to stop new Olympic Dam uranium mine was unavoidable
New era for BHP shareholders Financial Review 24 AUG 2012 TONY BOYD Marius Kloppers secured his job by delaying $30 billion in capital projects in Australia but he needs to do much more to get the BHP Billiton machine humming at optimum speed….
There was an inevitability to the project delays….. Olympic Dam might have been justified several years ago when its cost was estimated at $15 billion. But at a cost double that amount and with Australia’s high construction and infrastructure cost base, it was untenable.
Kloppers said the project never actually jumped the hurdle called “economic concept”, which meant BHP was never able to talk seriously with a potential Chinese partner to develop the world’s largest uranium deposit and fourth largest copper and gold deposit….
His outlook statement issued with the full-year results was seen by several analysts as bullish. But coverage will be dominated by the Olympic Dam decision because of its widespread implications.
Analysts think it is unlikely that a large-scale development project will proceed at the site in South Australia…. Given the company’s desire to operate within a credit rating envelope that delivers it low-costing debt, the Olympic Dam decision was unavoidable. Continue reading
Can Olympic Dam copper mine be developed without uranium recovery?
Dr Gavin M. Mudd Environmental Engineering, Monash University December 2010
“…… – it is eminently reasonable to propose a process flow sheet for Olympic Dam which does not include recovery of the uranium but still allows for copper, gold and silver to be produced.
http://users.monash.edu.au/~gmudd/files/ODam-Cu-only.pdf
Of course, a more modern idea is in design. Designing technologies so that it is practical and relatively easy to RECYCLE copper – C.M.
Open cut mine at Olympic Dam dead in the water? perhaps just copper extraction now?
Writing on the wall now gospel The Age, August 23, 2012 Malcolm Maiden “…..The decision to defer the Olympic Dam open-cut project was forced by a tightening cost-benefit equation as capital costs rose and commodity prices eased.
BHP said at its announcement that it would investigate ”an alternative, less capital-intensive” open-pit design, and is expected to focus on copper extraction technologies, among other things.
The biggest cost in the project is digging the open-cut quarry. There is no way to significantly downsize project costs without reducing the size of the hole, and the amount of overburden that needs to be removed before the ore body is exposed.
The final outcome is in the hands of the markets and the copper price, but the full-blown open-cut idea may be dead.
http://www.theage.com.au/business/writing-on-the-wall-now-gospel-20120822-24mqf.html#ixzz24PobKbbu
The Olympic Dam uranium project – uneconomic, unnecessary for South Australia
At its peak, the mine was expected to consume more electricity than the city of Adelaide, and 100 Olympic swimming pools worth of fresh water every day.
Olympic Dam was too expensive.
South Australia will be fine. Mining accounts for a relatively small share of South Australia’s overall economy, and only 1 per cent of its employment.
the carbon emissions from Olympic Dam would have dwarfed all the gains in emissions reductions that South Australia has made in renewable energy in recent years
The Olympic Dam Delay Has A Silver Lining New Matilda, By Ben Eltham 23 Aug 12, Why did BHP Billiton halt the Olympic Dam mine? The project was just too expensive. The decision is good news for the South Australian environment, writes Ben Eltham
Picture a hole in the ground four kilometres long and one kilometre deep. Picture a manmade mountain of dirt next to it nearly as high — a mountain of dirt dug from the ground and heaped next to that hole, a new landmark on the South Australian horizon.
Picture a mega-project so large and so thirsty that it would have required a new baseload electricity generator to meet its power needs, and a new desalination plant hundreds of kilometres away on the coast to make the water it required.
Picture a mine so vast, it would have increased the world supply of Uranium by a third.
This was the vast edifice that was to be Olympic Dam — when finished, the largest mine in the world. Continue reading
Former South Australian Premier Mike Rann – a uranium legacy in tatters
In the end, they weren’t able to deliver the new jobs, the billions in taxes and the mining boom.
The Olympic Dam expansion is now a genuine “mirage in the desert”…..
How Olympic Dam became a mirage in the desert, Crikey, by Kevin Naughton of InDaily, 23 Aug 12, It’s seven years since an excited Premier Mike Rann and his then-deputy Kevin Foley started briefing media executives about an imminent mining boom. Central to the spruik was BHP’s new estimation of Olympic Dam, the copper, gold and uranium mine in South Australia that it had just bought from Western Mining Corporation……
Ousted by the party’s powerful right wing in July, Rann brokered a deal to hang on until late October, so he could see the amended Olympic Dam Indenture Agreement deal through Parliament, adding to his legacy. That legacy now has a hole in it; on a political scale, larger than the one BHP talked of digging.
In a curious political twist dating back 30 years when the ALP was split over whether the original mine should go ahead, Rann labelled it a “mirage in the desert”. Rann had come to SA in 1977 as an anti-uranium campaigner from New Zealand and scored a job with then-premier Don Dunstan. Dunstan resigned in 1979 and incoming Liberal premier David Tonkin became an advocate for mining in the state’s north, but the numbers in Parliament were tight. Continue reading
BHP scraps plans for Olympic Dam gigantic new uranium mine
BHP cancels $30 billion Olympic Dam expansion near Roxby Downs in South Australia Outback Business Writer Meredith Booth AdelaideNow August 22, 2012 BHP Billiton has shelved its $30 billion Olympic Dam expansion and will go back to the drawing board to find a cheaper alternative….
.. However, BHP chief executive Marius Kloppers today insisted market conditions, subdued commodity prices and higher capital costs led to the decision, which has been the subject of speculation within several months.
“As we finalised the details of the project … it became clear that the right decision for the company and its shareholders was to continue studies to develop a less capital-intensive option to replace the underground mine at Olympic Dam,” Mr Kloppers said…….
The mine would have become the world’s biggest open cut copper and uranium mine at six kilometres long and one kilometre deep.
The news came as BHP Billiton announced a 21 per cent fall in annual profit of $US17.1 billion…… Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said BHP had made a decision based on international factors.
“South Australia unfortunately, even though we did everything right … forces outside of our control took over,” he said.“These resources aren’t going anywhere .
Victor Harbor, South Australia, – the nation’s champion solar city
South Australia’s Victor Harbor A Solar Stronghold http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3341 15 AUGUST, 2012 | by Energy Matters
Home owners in Victor Harbor, a seaside resort township situated 80 kilometres from Adelaide, South Australia, have been installing solar panels at a cracking pace. A Clean Energy Council (CEC) report late last year put Victor Harbor installations at 38% of all houses in the area – and the love affair with solar continues.
According to Victor Harbor Renewable Energy Programs, six meters per day were being installed in June 2012; resulting in a least 40% of the town’s houses now featuring solar power systems.
Given the recent 18% rise in electricity prices in South Australia, savings on power bills for Victor Harbor consumers are now estimated at over $1 million per annum – a very impressive outcome given the population of the area. “This changes our local economy for the better. The money stays here and the opportunity of harvesting what the CSIRO Smart Grid report terms ‘distributed energy,’ becomes an economic opportunity not just for Victor Harbor, but all regional communities,” states the VHREP web site.
The City of Victor Harbor set up a solar buyer’s group in 2009 that resulted in approximately 3,000 ratepayers across four councils installing solar panels. Asolar buyers group uses the power of bulk purchasing to reduce the cost of installing systems.
Across the Fleurieu Peninsula, the associated carbon emissions reduction of these systems is estimated at 3,000 tonnes per annum.
According to solar solutions provider Energy Matters, a good quality 5kW solar power system installed in Adelaide can realise electricity bill savings of over $1,800 a year – and similar savings can be achieved throughout the state.
Under South Australia’s feed in tariff program, new participants now receive 25.8c per kilowatt hour minimum for surplus electricity generated by their systems that is exported to the mains power grid.
As we reported earlier this week, South Australia has the highest penetration of rooftop solar panels among Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) regions, with around 20% of SA homes having installed systems by the end of February 2012.
Success of wind and solar energy in South Australia
SA shows wind and solar make energy cleaner and cheaper, REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson 13 August 2012As Europe has looked towards its biggest and most successful economy Germany to lead the way into green energy, Australians are getting a glimpse into its own grid of the future in the state of South Australia – arguably the advanced economy with the highest wind energy penetration, and now with the highest penetration of rooftop solar PV, in the world.
The latest South Australian Electricity Report (SAER), released by the Australian Energy Market Operator last week, gives some fascinating insights into how wind and now solar PV are changing the nature of the local grid – and providing the state with cleaner, greener and cheaper energy.
For a start, in 2011/12, wind overtook coal as the second biggest producer of energy in the state.
But while solar PV is not included , here’s another interesting set of statistics. South Australia has had the biggest reduction in energy demand compared to forecasts of just a year ago – down 10 per cent from last year’s predictions. Industry demand has fallen, but it still represents growth of 5.4 per cent. The biggest change has been in residential demand, which has fallen 7 per cent. It just so happens that South Australia has the highest penetration of rooftop PV of all the NEM states, meaning – as AEMO states – that ‘”less electricity is being supplied from the grid.”
Indeed, by the end of 2012, two out of five houses in the state had installed rooftop solar PV – more than double the national rate ….. Another interesting snippet from AEMO’s report is that rooftop solar – contrary to some opinion – is helping to meet peak demand….. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/sa-shows-wind-and-solar-make-energy-cleaner-and-cheaper-39021
Olympic Dam anti uranium protestors facing court
Olympic Dam protest has court sequel http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-09/olympic-dam-protest-charges-heard/4188096?section=sa August 09, 2012 Some of the protesters arrested near the Olympic Dam mine recently have faced the Magistrates Court at Port Augusta. Those who pleaded guilty were fined $150 and had no conviction recorded. Others who did not attend or pleaded not guilty will face a pre-trial conference in mid-September.
One man who was charged with interfering with a motor vehicle for allegedly chaining himself to a semi-trailer refused to enter a plea. He argued the court had no jurisdiction over him as he observed the laws of the Arabunna nation.
He also refused to stand in the dock, claiming it was where criminals stood and he was not a criminal.
Hundreds of people protested near the BHP Billiton mine, urging it be closed down rather than expanded.
Giant cuttlefish – a unique species under threat – especially relating to Olympic Dam uranium mine
Let us not forget that the giant cuttlefish has only one breeding ground in the whole world. And that is in Upper Spencer Gulf – where BHP Billiton would put its desalination plant -as part of its project for the world’s biggest uranium mine at Olympic Dam. The breeding ground depends on a very special, and delicate, balance of fresh and salt water.– CM
Green group demands cuttlefish study’s release http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-08/green-group-demands-better-giant-cuttlefish/4185184 August 08, 2012 The Conservation Council of South Australia is calling on the State Government to release the results of a recent study on the population of giant Australian cuttlefish near Point Lowly.
Conservation Council CEO Tim Kelly says the Government needs to announce a plan of action and immediately put the cuttlefish on a protected species list. Continue reading
Solar panel popularity cuts demand
Adelaide Now, Julian Swallow August 09, 2012 REDUCED electricity consumption and growing use of renewable energy will cause a five-year delay in the need for extra generation investment in SA, a new report says. Continue reading
Investors warn – forecast for Olympic Dam mega uranium mine just gets gloomier
Argo worries BHP’s $3b write-downs a warning sign, The Age, Michael Evans August 7, 2012 JASON BEDDOW, the boss of listed investment company Argo Investments, has expressed concern over the $3 billion in write-downs at BHP Billiton, saying he fears there may be more to come.
After announcing a 3 per cent fall in Argo’s net profit to $167.3 million for 2012, Mr Beddow, who estimates his firm’s BHP 
stake at about $260 million, told BusinessDay that he would like BHP management, led by the chief executive, Marius Kloppers, to know that ”you need to be a bit prudent”….
Mr Beddow said that there was ”every chance they will have to take [further] write-downs’….. if you really wanted to point the [finger] that’s what you’re paid for in a CEO. You’re paid for responsibility.”…
The market was concerned at the uncertainty around some of its major projects such as Olympic Dam, he said.
The push for monster Olympic Dam uranium mine – a monster mistake for Marius Kloppers?
a go-ahead decision on the $US30bn expansion will be delayed for at least two years.
Kloppers made what can now be said to have been an error in talking up the ability of its monster cashflow to fund $US80bn over five years in organic projects to the end of the 2015 fiscal year. Olympic Dam was included in those organic growth projects…
The big money in horse racing waits to the last moment in case an unknown becomes known and changes the odds. A decision on Olympic Dam is much the same. ….
Olympic Dam decision will show Kloppers’ standing BY: BARRY FITZGERALD : The Australian July 31, 2012 THE number five is popping up everywhere for Marius Kloppers. He turns 50 next month, has been chief executive for five years come October, and on August 22 will get to announce an annual profit fall of $US5 billion ($4.7bn) and the need for a $US5bn or so writeoff on last year’s US shale gas push
Then there is the talk that the clock on his chief executive tenure is at five minutes to midnight, ….
Rounding out the string of fives is whether the time is right to commit $US5bn to kick-start the Olympic Dam expansion. A decision on that is due in December. Continue reading
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