Beverley_uranium_mine
Beverley Uranium Mine
Mine in South Australia
The Beverley Mine is Australia's third uranium mine and Australia's first operating in-situ recovery mine. It is located in South Australia in the gazetted locality of Wooltana about 35 km from Lake Frome at the northern end of the Flinders Ranges.[1] It officially opened in 2001.[2] The original Beverley uranium deposit was discovered by one of Bill Siller's companies in 1969 and was named after his wife—Beverley Siller.
The mine is owned and operated by Adelaide-based company Heathgate Resources Pty Ltd. Heathgate Resources is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Atomics.[3][4]
Beverley is a palaeochannel uranium deposit. The uranium mineralisation (mainly coffinite) is hosted by loose sands in the channel of a former river. The ore bearing horizon is now at a depth of about 100 to 150m. The deposit is estimated to contain 21,000 tonnes of uranium oxide for a mine life of 15 to 30 years.[2] Uranium is extracted by in-situ leaching, involving the injection of a fluid containing sulphuric acid and hydrogen peroxide into the ore-bearing permeable horizon to mobilise the uranium. The fluid is then recovered and uranium is extracted at a central plant using ion-exchange. The final concentrate is trucked to Port Adelaide and then shipped to international customers.
In August 2008, Federal approval was given to Heathgate for a greater area to be accessed for mining in order for the pre-approved volume of material to be extracted from the mine.[5]
Between 1998 and 2007, Heathgate reported 57 spill incidents to Department of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA).[6][7]