Archive for May, 2011

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Determined opposition to Lynas dumping radioactive wastes in Malaysia

May 30, 2011

crucial questions remain unanswered especially regarding the safe disposal of radioactive waste…… officials from the nuclear watchdog would be pro-nuclear and therefore fail to produce a fair assessment of the Lynas plant.

Calls for local and environmental groups to be represented in the monitoring team have also gone unheeded…’Whatever their findings, our final agenda – which is our ultimate goal – is to stop Lynas.’..

Malaysia’s new rare earth plant provokes radiation fears – Monsters and Critics, By Julia Yeow May 29, 2011, Kuala Lumpur - In the quiet town of Gebeng in Malaysia’s central state of Pahang, a new rare earth plant has evoked fears of radiation contamination as residents desperately seek to stop the construction of the world’s largest such refinery. (more…)

Posted in Lynas, opposition to u-mining, RARE EARTHS | 2 Comments »

Point Lowly desalination plant will add to environmental destruction of uranium mining

May 30, 2011

the Rann Government’s lack of foresight is being clouded by the short term financial windfall created by the mine. “It’s just the cheapest, nastiest alternative,” said Melville-Smith. “There is no planning for the future of South Australia,

The Point Lowly desal plant that’s got SA squabbling Crikey   Esther Ooi 23 May 11: BHP Billiton refuses to back down from its controversial plans to build a desalination plant at Point Lowly, South Australia. The plant forms part of the proposed Olympic Dam mine expansion, but fears are growing over the possible risk of significant environmental damage. (more…)

Posted in environment, Olympic Dam, water | Leave a Comment »

BHP could profitably export copper, without uranium, at Olympic Dam

May 30, 2011

Recent research from Monash University has demonstrated that the mine could operate profitably exporting copper, gold and silver but not uranium. We would like to see the radioactive risks left out of this mine expansion. It is incredibly disappointing that BHP continues to peddle the fiction that uranium export is necessary and unavoidable.”

ROXBY EIS CONCERNS ENVIRONMENTALISTS FROM THE  NORTH TO THE SOUTH 23 May 11, The annual Friends of the Earth’s Radioactive Exposure Tour has visited the Olympic Dam mine a week after BHP Billiton‘s Supplementary EIS was released. (more…)

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Massive cost of gigantic Olympic Dam uranium mine project

May 30, 2011

“………Mineweb has been detailing the enormity of this project of transforming a large underground mine into a massive open cut – particularly with there being a sterile cover of between 300-400 metres. However, the price for the development has escalated in the past eight years from original projections of about US$S3 billion, in itself a daunting figure for many mining companies….It has been long known that removal of the overburden and rock will create “mountains” in a landscape that is virtually a pancake. Now, Gottliebsen said the rock storage facility covers 6,720 hectares and eventually will be 150 metres high. “By 2050, when the mine has not even completed half its life, the pit will be 4.1 kilometres long, 3.5 km wide and 1 km deep,” …”.  Mineweb, 18 May 11

Posted in BHP Billiton, economics, Olympic Dam | Leave a Comment »

Grandiose dimensions of expanded Olympic Dam uranium mine

May 30, 2011

BHP’s Olympic Dam uranium mining expansion“……In all it will remove a 350-metre thick layer of overburden and the rock taken out will be transported to a rock storage facility that covers 6720 hectares and will eventually be 150 metres high. By 2050, when the mine has not even completed half its life, the pit will be 4.1 kilometres long, 3.5 kilometres wide and one kilometre deep……” – Robert Gottliebson, Climate Spectator

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Massive radioactive waste pile to be created by BHP’s Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion

May 30, 2011

 “This EIS shows the company has designed Olympic Dam to leak up to eight million litres of liquid radioactive waste per day.  BHP Billiton plans to dump radioactive tailings on the surface and leave them there forever, rather than pay to isolate the toxic waste from the environment

BHP Final EIS & ACF Call to account for Olympic Dam’s international impact -BHP Billiton has released a multi-phonebook-sized environmental impact statement to support its proposal to make Olympic Dam the world’s largest uranium project, but the EIS does not address the risks that go along with Australian uranium when it is used in nuclear reactors overseas. (more…)

Posted in BHP Billiton, Olympic Dam, wastes | Leave a Comment »

Public not consulted as BHP forges ahead with giant uranium mine

May 30, 2011

Time to move beyond talking: BHP Billiton.Adelaide Now  Christopher Russell May 14, 2011  THE public will be engaged, but not consulted, on the Olympic Dam expansion, BHP said yesterday. President of BHP’s uranium sector, Dean Dalla Valle, pledged yesterday to continue talking to the community but said the company had to move on to the next phase.

“The formal part is complete,” he said of public input.

Supplementary EIS released for Olympic Dam mine ABC News  May 13, BHP Billiton is today releasing its supplementary environmental impact statement (EIS) for the expansion of the Olympic Dam mine. The 15,000-page draft document was handed to the state and federal governments in December.

It contains the mining giant’s response to more than 4,000 public submissions made to the company’s first EIS, released in 2009.The South Australian Government is expected to make a decision on the development later this year…..http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/13/3215970.htm

Posted in BHP Billiton, Olympic Dam | Leave a Comment »

BHP, Cameco feel the pain of falling uranium prices

May 30, 2011

BHP to feel uranium slide, Barry Fitzgerald, Sydney Morning Herald, May 9, 2011 THE partial meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant in March has prompted leading uranium producer Cameco to cut its demand forecasts for the nuclear fuel. The cut has implications for BHP Billiton, which must find a home for the additional uranium it will produce with its planned $30 billion expansion of the Olympic Dam copper/uranium/gold mine in South Australia’s outback. (more…)

Posted in BHP Billiton, Cameco, economics | Leave a Comment »

Paladin’s share price falls as Namibia seeks greater ownership of its uranium resources

May 30, 2011

comments Minister of Mines and Energy Isak Katali made in parliament last week about the Namibian people deserving to benefit more from the country’s resources have set some investors’ nerves on edge.

Extract Resources shares drop onNamibia government plan, Apr 28,2011 MELBOURNE (Reuters)…http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE73R06E20110428

Namibia nationalisation anxiety knocks uranium miners TORONTO (miningweekly.com) 29 April 11,  – Uranium miner Paladin Energy moved to calm investors after its shares tumbled 7,4% on the TSX over reports that Namibia’s state-owned mining company wanted to claim all uranium mining rights, as well as other “strategic” materials… (more…)

Posted in economics, Paladin | Leave a Comment »

Uranium prices just not recovering

May 30, 2011

The average uranium equity has declined 34.4 percent, with the majority of share prices weakening more than 30 percent.

Uranium Equities Lagging in Recovery, By Dave Brown – Uranium Investing News, 27 April 11, The full impact of the Japanese  earthquake and tsunami is yet to be determined. However, the immediate downside pressure on uranium mining, exploration and development companies and even spot uranium prices has been considerable. (more…)

Posted in economics | Leave a Comment »

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