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BHP plans to re-start Olympic Dam expansion

OlympicDamBHP Billiton has applied to the federal government for approval to trial a new mining method that could see the Olympic Dam copper/uranium expansion in South Australia back in action.

The Australian Financial Review is reporting that BHP told the government yesterday that ‘heap leaching’ could significantly reduce operational costs and lead to the expansion project becoming financially viable once again.

The $30 billion expansion project was controversially mothballed two years ago with the company citing a drop in commodity prices and a rise in the cost of operating in Australia as reasons for the decision. Since that time BHP has been investigating new mining techniques to make the operation more cost effective.

With an estimated  “$1 trillion worth of metal still in the ground”, BHP has asked the government for approval to trial heap leaching over three years starting in 2016.

According to AFR, “The trial has been modelled on arrangements at BHP’s Spence mine in Chile, and is expected to see uranium removed from the ores at the start of the process, rather than at the end…”

If the trial is successful the operation may not need a smelter which would significantly reduce development and operational costs.

An underground mine currently operates at the Olympic Dam site however the bulk of mineral deposits still lie 350 metres below the surface.

South Australian Treasurer, Tom Koutsantonis, told AFR, “They’re doing what they said they were going to do…I’m looking forward to a long and prosperous mine life”

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