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Some info put out by Heathgate Resources
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Demand for uranium
The Beverley Uranium Mine will capitalise on the growing world-wide demand for uranium as a feedstock for nuclear power plants. All production will be undertaken in line with strict Federal and State Government guidelines and will be monitored by relevant Federal and State Government departments.
As with all other Australian uranium contracts, Beverley uranium will only be used for peaceful purposes.
The ISL process represents an internationally-recognised, low-impact and environmentally sensitive method of extraction. On completion of the project, all wells will be sealed and capped, process facilities removed and the surface returned to its original contour and vegetation. In the meantime, there will be minimal surface disturbance.
Beverley will be an important element in the South Australian mining industry, providing long-term jobs, royalty and taxation revenue for the State and a positive impact on the national balance of payments.
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Economic Impact
Beverley will be a significant contributor to the South Australian economy through a number of avenues, including:
employment;
royalties;
balance of payments;
construction contracts; and
ongoing investment.
By the end of 1998, Heathgate had spent more than million assessing the project's viability, meeting environmental obligations including preparation of the Beverley Environmental Impact Statement and building and operating a pilot extraction plant on-site.
A further million will be required to complete the construction phase of the project.
This will include the extraction wellfield, processing plant, all-weather airstrip, camp and associated facilities. Most of this money will be spent within South Australia.
Beverley will provide about 120 full-time jobs once in production, with production crews working on a roster basis, flying in and out of the site. Accepted mining industry multipliers mean that a further 350 permanent jobs will be created off-site. This will create additional wage income in the vicinity of million a year, with associated payroll tax revenue to the State Government. Further, the Government will benefit through annual royalty payments in the vicinity of $1 million.
This represents a significant increase in royalty income for the Government, which in 1995/96 generated about .5 million - about 60 per cent of this coming from the Olympic Dam mine. After royalties from Olympic Dam and the State's iron ore and coal mines, Beverley will become one of the Government's biggest single sources of mineral royalty income.
Once in full production, Beverley will generate export income of about million annually, to become a positive contributor to the national balance of payments.
Net revenue generated by the project will be reinvested by Heathgate in other projects within Australia.
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Purchase of Wooltana lease
Heathgate Resources has purchased the Wooltana pastoral lease, part of which has been excised for the Beverley mine and special purpose leases.
Heathgate Resources Senior Vice President and Beverley Project Manager, Mr Chuck Foldenauer, says the purchase reflects Heathgates long-term plans for Beverley and the companys presence in South Australia.
"When the property came up for sale it was a logical step to purchase it," he says. "It gives us an opportunity to expand our exploration activities in the area without impacting unduly on the pastoralist.
"We had already moved cattle off the project area, which covers about 13.5 square kilometres of the 2530 square kilometre pastoral lease and we are now reviewing our options for the property."
Mr Foldenauer says de-stocking the mine area will enable Heathgates environmental team to review how the area rehabilitates itself without the impact of cattle grazing.
"The area is Mitchell Grass plain that has been grazed for many years," he says. "While the area has been well-managed in pastoral terms, there is no doubt that cattle have had an impact. "We are now monitoring the de-stocked area in a study that is quite unique for the area.
"It will provide an opportunity to see how quickly revegetation takes place naturally as distinct from the work that we will carry out as part of the mining operation. I have no doubt that the findings will be useful when it comes to rehabilitating mined-out areas of the wellfield."
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Date: 12th May 2000
First Mining Royalties for Adnyamathanha people
Heathgate Resources Pty Ltd has made an historic first payment of royalties to the Adnyamathanha people of the Northern Flinders Ranges under one of a series of Native Title Agreements relating to the Beverley Uranium Mine.
The payment of royalties was made to a tax-exempt charitable trust established by Geraldine Anderson, Michael Anderson and Sally Clark representing the Adnyamathanha people under the SC97/1 Native Title Claim.
In accepting payment on behalf of the Adnyamathanha community, Geraldine Anderson said "the claimants are proud of their accomplishment achieved on behalf of the Adnyamathanha people and their support for mining projects (such as Beverley) as approved by the Adnyamathanha community."
The money will be used for Aboriginal health and welfare, to provide training and education, community projects and social welfare programs benefiting Adnyamathanha people generally. The activities of the trust will be reported fully to a Heathgate-Adnyamathanha Advisory Committee on a regular basis, and information will be available for community access.
For further information,
contact:
Heathgate Resources Pty Ltd.
Chuck Foldenauer 8212 2155
Stephen Middleton 8349 8833
Adnyamathanha Native Title Claimants SC 97/1
Michael Anderson
0411 131261
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The Beverley site, between Lake Frome and the northern Flinders Ranges. The Field Leach Trial plant is on the horizon in the middle right of the photo.
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Deluded
Beverley mining is safe
Heathgate Resources today rejected claims by the Democrats and the ACF saying its mining practices at Heathgate were "absolutely safe".
Beverley Project Manager Chuck Foldenauer confirmed there is no connection between the mines aquifer and others in the area.
"Our aquifer has characteristics which are chemically unique and just cant be found in any other aquifer in the region," he said.
"It is plain nonsense to suggest we haven't tested the area properly.
Mr Foldenauer said the claim that ground water should be restored demonstrated the naivety of the mine's critics.
"The water we are extracting is radioactive, salty and unsuitable for any other purpose than mining.
"Restoring an already unusable aquifer to its original unusable condition is pointless!"
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Protesters urged to focus on facts
The company planning to develop the Beverley uranium mine in South Australias far north has urged anti-nuclear activists to focus on the facts rather than continue an emotional campaign based on ideology.
"Examination of the facts will confirm that Beverley will be a world-class mine and will have minimal impact on the environment," Beverley Project Manager and Vice President of Heathgate Resources, Mr Chuck Foldenauer, said today.
He was commenting on todays protest by anti-nuclear activists at Heathgates Adelaide office.
"Any number of independent experts have studied what is proposed and given it their approval," Mr Foldenauer said
"Unfortunately, the anti-nuclear lobbys opposition to the mining and processing of uranium for peaceful purposes has blinded it to the facts.
"They are entitled to their point of view and they have made their objections known to every authority charged with the responsibility of overseeing the project.
"Their wild claims about Beverley have been subjected to the closest scrutiny possible and the project has come through with flying colours. It is now time to move on."
Mr Foldenauer said Heathgate Resources would not be distracted by uranium protesters.
"If I thought there was any point in it, I would be happy to meet with them to discuss their concerns," he said.
"But their argument is an emotional one that relies on a misunderstanding of the situation at best, or deliberate distortion of the truth at worst.
"The In Situ Leach process we will use at Beverley is a water pumping exercise.
"It involves pumping the existing groundwater to the surface, adding oxygen to dissolve the uranium and acid to create a solution with about the same pH level as orange juice or red wine to keep the captured uranium in solution.
"The water is then brought to the surface and the uranium removed.
"It is visually and environmentally low impact and much less intrusive than open cut and underground mining.
"It is a process that is used extensively world-wide, producing about 13 percent of the worlds uranium.
"Indeed, power utilities are now demanding that because of environmental considerations their uranium must be supplied from ISL mines.
"While it is less environmentally intrusive than open cut or underground operations, ISL mining can only be used in situations where the uranium is contained within an underground water system.
"In those terms, Beverley is ideal, because the Beverley aquifer is completely isolated from other underground water systems including the Great Artesian Basin and is so salty and naturally radioactive that is has no other use."
Mr Foldenauer said Heathgate Resources was now in the process of drawing up and letting tenders for million worth of construction and wellfield development to be undertaken at Beverley over the next twelve months.
He said the project workforce would now begin to build up steadily from the small project team currently in Adelaide to about 120 people
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The Beverley Plant
Although Beverley will be an important uranium producer, producing about 900 tonnes of uranium oxide annually over a mine life of more than 25 years, the scale of the operation will be small by comparison with other mines in South Australia.
For instance, the mine area will cover less than five square kilometres. The wellfield, which will be relocated as the orebody is developed, will cover just over half a square kilometre at any one time. The plant itself will be about the size of a large shearing shed, while two evaporation ponds that will handle the disposal of liquid waste will cover an area of about 200 metres by 200 metres.
There will be minimal visual impact on the horizon and while there will be regular shipments of uranium, they will be infrequent. About eight times a year, 300 drums of yellowcake contained in sealed shipping containers will be loaded onto trucks and transported to Adelaide using the standard procedures adopted for uranium shipments in South Australia.
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Spent fuel transport from Lucas heights
Beverley Mine
Product Handling
Mining, processing, packaging and shipping of uranium is expected to be spread more or less evenly throughout the year. Yellowcake, packed in sealed 205L steel drums, will be stored on site in a secure and monitored compound, with security requirements as defined by the Australian Safeguards Office. Adequate fencing, surveillance, and telecommunications will be in place at all times.
Yellowcake drums will be transported in sealed sea-freight containers, on semi-trailers, to Port Adelaide. The procedures for road transport to the port, including emergency response procedures, will be drawn up and presented to the regulators for approval. The transport rules will conform to current Australian Codes of Practice, IAEA transport recommendations; and International Maritime Organisation regulations for sea transport.
Waste
Radioactive solid wastesUnlike conventional uranium milling and treatment plants, in situ leach mining produces no tailings and hence has no requirement for a surface tailings disposal system.
There will be only limited amounts of radioactive wastes requiring management. These include dried solids from filtration of suspended material in circulated groundwaters, salts from evaporation of waste streams, damaged ion exchange resin and plant filters, laboratory equipment and process equipment such as pumps, valves, and piping.
A low-level radioactive waste repository will be required for disposal of radioactive solids. The present proposal is for this repository to be established at the development site. If a national low-level radioactive waste repository is established in the Billa Kalina area of north west SA, disposal there rather than on-site may be an option.
Non-radioactive solid wastes
The plant and the camp will both generate solid wastes, primarily packaging and containers. Recycling of materials, particularly paper, cardboard, glass, metals and plastics, will be maximised. Materials which cannot be recycled will be compacted into bound cartons and buried in a sanitary landfill onsite. The camp will also generate putrescible wastes, for which two alternative approaches to disposal are under consideration - composting and maceration.
Liquid waste handling
The primary waste streams from the mining operation will be a mining solution bleed at the plant, spent solutions from the uranium precipitation process, washdown water and filter cleaning water. These fluids would initially be collected in the plant holding ponds. Two options exist for disposal of these fluids; either to re-inject the fluid to the mineralised zone aquifer remote from potential future mining areas, and/or in areas already mined out, or to evaporate the water on the surface and then dispose of the resulting solids in an engineered disposal facility.
It is proposed that liquid plant wastes be returned to the orebody formation. This minimises the amount of material requiring near-surface disposal, the area needed for pondages, and the release to atmosphere of radon.
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