Beverley (uranium mine)
| Beverley uranium mine | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General information about the mine | |||
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| Mining technology | In situ method | ||
| Information about the mining company | |||
| Operating company | Heathgate Resources Pty. Ltd. | ||
| Start of operation | 2001 | ||
| Funded raw materials | |||
| Degradation of | Uranium ore | ||
| Greatest depth | 130 m | ||
| Geographical location | |||
| Coordinates | 30 ° 11 '29 " S , 139 ° 35' 56" E | ||
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| Location | Lake Frome | ||
| State | South Australia | ||
| Country | Australia | ||
The Beverley uranium mine is an Australian mine owned by Heathgate Resources, a subsidiary of the American group General Atomics .
geography
The mining area is located in the north of the Australian state of South Australia and 35 km northwest of Lake Frome .
history
The deposit was discovered in 1969. The government of South Australia refused permission to build this mine in 1982, but the government gave up its negative stance in March 1999 and construction began in 1999. Production started in January 2001.
The mining company agreed an annual payment in September 1998 with the four Aboriginal clans who belong to the Adnyamathanha tribe and who own the land on which the Beverley uranium mine was built, the amount of which depends largely on the uranium price. That was about $ 1 million at the time.
Deposit
This is a sandstone deposit with about 0.18% uranium oxide (measured as uranium (V, VI) oxide U 3 O 8 ) at a depth between 100 m and 130 m. Because of the low uranium content, it can only be economically mined using the in-situ method . The aquifer required for this at this depth is not connected to the Great Artesian Basin , located about 150 m below, so that substances introduced there cannot pollute the important groundwater basin. However, environmentalists have contradicted this statement.
Ore extraction and processing
The uranium mine has a capacity of up to 1180 tons of triuranium octoxide per year, with 418 tons being mined in 2010.
Water is pumped out of the aquifer, mixed with oxidizing agents and sulfuric acid and pumped back in at another point. The water flows underground through the sandstone deposit to the pumping station and in the process loosens the ore from the rock. After the ore has been separated above ground from the pumped water, it is again mixed with oxidizing agent, brought to the desired pH value of 2 to 3 and then pumped down again.
Mining operations
In 2013, mining in the main and northern field of the Beverley mine was closed due to falling raw material prices.
See also
swell
- ↑ heathgateresources.com.au: Aboriginal agreements approve Beverley mine ( Memento of the original from August 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ world-nuclear.org: Australia's Uranium Mines: Beverley ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ World Nuclear (February 2010): Australia's Uranium Mines . Retrieved February 15, 2011
- ↑ Australia's Uranium Mines , accessed November 9, 2014
