Despite a slight drop in volume, the value of Australian uranium exports exceeded A$1 billion for the first time during 2008-09, according to the Australian Safeguards and Non-proliferation Office (ASNO). This was the news from the Hon. Paul Holloway, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, at the first day of the Paydirt Uranium Conference in Adelaide yesterday. He commented, “In terms of exploration expenditure on uranium in South Australia we have seen A$25.2 million recorded in the most recent September 2009 quarter. The last time we had over A$25 million per quarter was back in June 2008 when the state recorded a uranium exploration spend of A$27.1 million.
“Uranium exploration activity in South Australia continues to grow with over 300 uranium focused mineral exploration licences and over 100 mineral ELA’s registered as at September 2009. One common independent indicator of exploration activity is the month-by-month assessments and approvals of mineral exploration drilling work programs. In the July to September 2009 period, PIRSA experienced an increase in drilling work proposals which appear to be trending back towards the consistently higher levels of 2008.”
Research company, Access Economics in October 2009 also registered this optimism, stating that South Australia is set to become the world’s next energy export powerhouse through its uranium reserves, signalling strong potential for further uranium exploration expenditure in 2010.
On near-production projects, Holloway said, “The Premier and I attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the Honeymoon Uranium mine on the April 24, 2009. The Honeymoon mine, located 400 km northeast of Adelaide, has been granted all approvals necessary to commence operations. UraniumOne signed a A$104 million joint venture with Mitsui to progress the development of Honeymoon. If all goes to plan for Uranium One they expect to see production from Honeymoon in the second half of this year.
“The South Australian Government has also been working hard to facilitate the expansion of the worldclass Olympic Dam copper-gold-uranium mine. BHP Billiton is proposing the creation of an open-pit mine which would deliver a six-fold increase in production. According to information provided in the draft EIS, the planned expansion would make Olympic Dam the world’s largest uranium mine, the world’s third biggest copper mine, and will continue to be Australia’s biggest gold mine in terms of production.
“The impact of the expansion on the state’s economy would be significant. BHP estimates that the mine’s contribution to Gross State Product would increase by A$6.9 billion per annum when Olympic Dam reaches full operating capacity. [It] also indicates in the environmental impact statement (EIS) that the expansion will create up to 7,700 construction and short term jobs during the 11 year period before full production is reached. The operations workforce at Olympic Dam will also double to more than 8,000.
“In response to the complexity of the expansion the Rann Government has allocated A$6.2 million over seven years to 2012/13 to the Olympic Dam Task Force. The role of the Task Force is to:
• Facilitate the project
• To co-ordinate all regulatory matters
• Ensure that there are opportunities for local industry to participate in the project
• To maximise job opportunities
• Indigenous economic development opportunities from the project.
“On the exploration front we are seeing a new emerging uranium province, the Pirie Basin in the northeast of the state, being investigated by UraniumSA at their Mullaquana project. Uranium SA aims to have an in-situ field leach trial and a pilot plant commissioned on site in 2011/12 – a two year time frame.”
And South Australia is also teaming up with one of Canada’s most prospective regions: “In order to further expand our geological understanding of these regions the South Australian Government’s Geological Survey Branch has several active research projects designed to advance knowledge of uranium mineral systems and promote discovery in South Australia. Of particular note is our collaborative research with the Government of Saskatchewan under a MoU signed last year.”
“A technical exchange is currently underway between the two agencies, with two personnel recently returning from Canada having undergone familiarisation with the geology, data and exploration methodologies in the Athabasca Basin.
“International collaborations such as this are innovative ways that this Government is aiding the industry, through the Geological Survey, to unravel the mineral potential for this style of uranium deposit in South Australia.”