Roxby Downs / Olympic Dam Uranium Mine

Please make a submission on the Draft EIS for the Olympic Dam mega-expansion. Submissions due August 7, 2009. For more info, click on 'Take Action' in the left-hand navigation bar. http://www.foe.org.au/anti-nuclear/issues/take-action

Roxby Downs Uranium/Copper Mine — by CamWalker — last modified 2009-07-10 20:37

Summary of the problems with the mine. Updated May 2009 following the release of the Draft EIS for the proposed mine expansion.

BHP - Alternative Annual Report - 2009 — by Jim Green — last modified 2009-11-26 23:36

2.2MB PDF file. Reports from BHP activities around the world. This is the Australian version released on Nov 26 2009 to coincide with BHP's AGM.

Roxby Downs Indenture Act — by CamWalker — last modified 2008-11-25 08:41

BHP Billiton's outrageous legal privileges

Greenhouse emissions - Olympic Dam mine expansion — by CamWalker — last modified 2009-04-30 07:47

Technical paper by Dr Gavin Mudd, Monash University

2008 BHP Billiton AGM — by CamWalker — last modified 2008-12-01 10:18

Melbourne, November 27, 2008. Kevin Buzzacott's statement to the AGM. Also some media articles.

Watered Down Negotiations - WMC Picks Both Sides — by CamWalker — last modified 2008-11-15 08:20

Jan Whyte and Ila Marks look at how WMC's activities are potentially dividing the Aboriginal people, possibly damaging areas of cultural and sacred significance and maybe degrading the environment. This article was published in the FoE Australia magazine, Chain Reaction, No. 75 (July 1996).

Violence in Marree - WMC Interference — by CamWalker — last modified 2008-11-15 08:20

Radio National's Background Briefing - Sunday March 5, 1995. Transcript of story about the outbreak of violence in Marree, SA, in January 1995, and its connection to the Roxby Downs mine.

Photo - Bubbler Mound Spring — by CamWalker — last modified 2008-11-15 08:49

 

Detailed report on Mound Springs and the Roxby mine's impacts on them — by CamWalker — last modified 2008-11-15 08:20

By Daniel Keane, 1997. Large PDF file 3.4MB.

Another report on Mound Springs and the Roxby mine's impacts on them — by CamWalker — last modified 2008-11-15 09:31

By Gavin Mudd

Massive energy consumption and greenhouse emissions. — by CamWalker — last modified 2008-11-15 09:02

 

Bird deaths from the tailings dam — by CamWalker — last modified 2008-11-15 08:54

Over 100 deaths in one four-day period.

Photo of tailings at Roxby Downs — by CamWalker — last modified 2008-11-15 08:50

The production of radioactive tailings, stored above ground, will increase to 70 million tonnes annually. Currently, tailings are produced at a rate of 10 million tonnes annually and the stockpile amounts to 100 million tonnes. There have been numerous spills and leaks – most significantly in 1994, when it was revealed that three billion litres had leaked from the tailings dams over two years. Tailings management has continued to be problematic and contentious. Mining consultants Advanced Geomechanics noted in a 2004 report that radioactive slurry was deposited "partially off" a lined area of a storage pond at Roxby Downs, contributing to greater seepage and rising ground water levels; that there is no agreed, accurate formula to determine the rate of evaporation of tailings and how much leaks into the ground; and that cells within a tailings pond covered an area more than three times greater than a key performance indicator recommended, requiring "urgent remedial measures". Photo by Jessie Boylan.

Accidents and incidents 2003-08 — by CamWalker — last modified 2008-11-15 08:38

From the SA government: <<http://outernode.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/56602/OD_Incident_summary.pdf>. Also posted and posted as webpage at <http://outernode.pir.sa.gov.au/minerals/licensing_and_regulation/mining_regulation/operating_mines/olympic_dam/olympic_dam_incident_summary_2003_-_2008>

SA Parliamentary Inquiry Into The Tailings System Leakage — by CamWalker — last modified 2008-11-15 08:20

On February 14, 1994, WMC reported that up to 5 million cubic metres of liquid had leaked from it's Tailings Retention System (TRS) at Olympic Dam. According to WMC the leak had been happening for at least 2 years but only became fully understood in January 1994. It has since become apparent that the leak occurred over several years and there are no plans to clean up the toxic radioactive material which leaked from the tailings retention system.

Roxby timeline + accidents 1987-2001 — by CamWalker — last modified 2009-01-12 06:57

 

Roxby on Fire -- 2001 — by CamWalker — last modified 2008-11-16 08:24

According to the SA government, the fire mainly involved copper solvent extraction areas of the plant. Small amounts of uranium in the uranium solvent extraction area were also involved. Small quantities of uranium were detected in air monitoring conducted during the fire in the plume of smoke, which travelled in a SW direction. There was another fire in December 2000.

Environmental Impacts Statement — by Jim Green — last modified 2009-08-17 06:49

Detailed submission by Friends of the Earth, Adelaide. August 2009. See also the ACF submission at: www.acfonline.org.au/default.asp?section_id=25

BHP Billiton's operations overseas — by Jim Green — last modified 2009-12-26 00:00

Undermining the Future