Mary Kathleen (Queensland)
| Mary Kathleen uranium mine | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General information about the mine | |||
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| Mining technology | Open pit | ||
| Funding / total | 8,262 t | ||
| Information about the mining company | |||
| Start of operation | 1958 | ||
| End of operation | 1982 | ||
| Funded raw materials | |||
| Degradation of | Uranium ore | ||
| Geographical location | |||
| Coordinates | 20 ° 44 '49 " S , 140 ° 0' 46" E | ||
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| Location | Mary Kathleen | ||
| State | Queensland | ||
| Country | Australia | ||
Mary Kathleen is an open uranium mine and associated nearby abandoned mining settlement in Queensland , Australia .
location
Mary Kathleen is located between the mining towns of Mount Isa and Cloncurry in northwest Queensland. The abandoned settlement of Mary Kathleen is not far from the highway between the two cities, the open pit is about 5 km north of the settlement.
history
The deposit was discovered by prospectors from Mt. Isa in 1954. In 1955, Mary Kathleen Uranium Ltd. founded, on which the mining group Rio Tinto Mining Company of Australia Ltd. owned a majority of shares. The following year, a contract was signed with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority for the supply of uranium concentrate. In 1958, the mine was processed and by 1963 3460 t uranium in concentrate had been delivered. For this, 2.9 million tons of ore were mined. Attempts to market the rare earth metals , which are highly enriched in ore , were unsuccessful. In 1963 the mine was shut down and the facilities mothballed.
At the beginning of the 1970s, new contracts were negotiated with customers in Japan , Germany and the USA and the plants were put back into operation in 1974. At that time, 51% of Conzinc Riotinto of Australia Ltd. was owned, 42% owned by the Australian state and 7% were in free float. In 1978, operations were resumed with new processing technology. In 1982 mining was finally stopped after the production of another 4802 tons of uranium oxide. A total of 31 million tons of rock were moved during the entire mining period of twelve years, including 7 million tons of ore.
In contrast to the first mining period, the second phase was preceded by an environmental impact assessment before production was resumed . After the mining activity was completed, a rehabilitation program followed until 1985, which cost 19 million Australian dollars. This was the first major uranium mine rehabilitation program in Australia. Mary Kathleen Uranium Ltd. dissolved.
