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Gold/Mining/Energy : Mining News of Note -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LoneClone who wrote (11002)	11/29/2007 10:40:11 AM
From: LoneClone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 194043

BHP flags more digging at Olympic Dam news.smh.com.au November 28, 2007 - 6:24PM Mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd has flagged further expansion of its copper, gold and uranium mine at Olympic Dam in South Australia, expecting the project to continue to grow for "decades to come". The company is preparing an environmental impact statement for a proposed expansion at Olympic Dam that would double the size of the operation. BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers said Wednesday the development of the mine was just one event in a process that would continue to evolve. "Olympic Dam is such an enormous ore body that this is not only (in) the next stage of development, but we're likely to see that asset to continue to grow over many decades," Mr Kloppers said after the company's annual general meeting in Adelaide. "We are looking towards not only an event there but a partnership that is going to stretch over many decades." Earlier this year BHP Billiton revealed in its annual report a 75 per cent increase in known resources at Olympic Dam. Drilling by a reported 20 rigs had increased the total estimated resource of all ores from 4.43 billion tonnes to 7.738 billion tonnes, the company said. As well as being the largest uranium deposit in the world it was now the fourth largest copper deposit and the fifth largest gold deposit. Under its current expansion plans, copper output would grow to 500,000 tonnes a year, starting from about 2014. However, the proposed expansion has raised some concerns in South Australia over the possible construction of a desalination plant at the head of Spencer Gulf to provide water for the operation. There have also been concerns raised over the continued use of groundwater from the Great Artesian Basin. At the meeting BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus said that while pumping of water from the basin was currently 20 per cent below the company's licensed limit, it was acutely aware that water was a scarce resource. "We have a group of engineers dedicated to identifying and implementing initiatives that reduce water consumption," Mr Argus said. "In partnership with the federal and South Australian governments we are supporting a program to rehabilitate bores and associated drains in the region. "By constructing pipes, tanks and stock-watering troughs to replace open soil drains, we can save as much as 95 per cent of the water from each bore. "The total amount of water being saved each year from these initiatives is more than Olympic Dam's total annual consumption." Mr Argus said the company's preferred option was to construct the desalination plant, which was a substantial undertaking but not something new to the company. "We have considerable relevant experience operating a large desalination plant for our Escondida copper mine in Chile," he said.