Review of Environmental Impacts of the Acid In-Situ Leach Uranium Mining Process
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In Situ Leach (ISL) Mining of Uranium
In Situ Leach (ISL) Mining of Uranium (June 2009) l Most uranium mining in the USA and Kazakhstan is now by in situ leach methods, also known as in situ recovery (ISR). l In USA ISL is seen as the most cost effective and environmentally acceptable method of mining, and Australian experience supports this. l Australia's first ISL uranium mine is Beverley, which started operation late in 2000. The proposal for Honeymoon has government approval and it is expected to be operating in 2008. Conventional mining involves removing mineralised rock (ore) from the ground, breaking it up and treating it to remove the minerals being sought. In situ leaching (ISL), also known as solution mining, or in situ recovery (ISR) in North America, involves leaving the ore where it is in the ground, and recovering the minerals from it by dissolving them and pumping the pregnant solution to the surface where the minerals can be recovered. Consequently there is little surface disturbance and no tailings or waste rock generated. However, the orebody needs to be permeable to the liquids used, and located so that they do not contaminate ground water away from the orebody. Uranium ISL uses the native groundwater in the orebody which is fortified with a complexing agent and in most cases an oxidant. It is then pumped through the underground orebody to recover the minerals in it by leaching. Once the pregnant solution is returned to the surface, the uranium is recovered in much the same way as in any other uranium plant (mill). In Australian ISL mines (Beverley and the soon to be opened Honeymoon Mine) the oxidant used is hydrogen peroxide and the complexing agent sulfuric acid. -
About Uranium Mining in South Australia Foreword
The Facts about uranium mining in South Australia Foreword South Australia has been a major producer of uranium since 1988. We are proud of our track record and our global reputation for excellence. The South Australian Government thoroughly To achieve that aim we need to challenge assess mining lease proposals, and through the perceptions of unacceptable hazards stringent conditions, rigorously upholds the associated with the uranium industry. Risks highest standards for monitoring and safety. associated with nuclear energy are judged harsher than competing energy sources. The enduring strength of this State’s leadership in uranium mining is an insistence Access to information and education is on world’s best practice for managing our the key to challenging these perceptions. resources. Uranium – The Facts is just that, the facts that should be the basis for any informed debate Our global reputation enables us to attract about uranium and South Australia’s current the world’s leading uranium miners and role in the global nuclear fuel cycle. lead the country in annual production. Uranium produced in South Australia is equivalent to delivering CO2-free power to 20 million people. Yet with more than 80% of Australia’s total Hon Tom Koutsantonis MP, uranium resource, there remains considerable Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy scope to expand. It’s not enough that we produce exports from the world’s largest uranium deposit at Olympic Dam, we want to unlock the full potential of all South Australia’s uranium assets. How we regulate The Foreign Investment Review The Australian regulatory framework Board examines foreign investment for the uranium industry is widely proposals to ensure the investment is recognised as world’s best practice. -
Understanding Fluid–Rock Interactions and Lixiviant/Oxidant Behaviour for the In-Situ Recovery of Metals from Deep Ore Bodies
School of Earth and Planetary Science Department of Applied Geology Understanding Fluid–Rock Interactions and Lixiviant/Oxidant Behaviour for the In-situ Recovery of Metals from Deep Ore Bodies Tania Marcela Hidalgo Rosero This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Curtin University February 2020 1 Declaration __________________________________________________________________________ Declaration To the best of my knowledge and belief, I declare that this work of thesis contains no material published by any other person, except where due acknowledgements have been made. This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university. Tania Marcela Hidalgo Rosero Date: 28/01/2020 2 Abstract __________________________________________________________________________ Abstract In-situ recovery (ISR) processing has been recognised as a possible alternative to open- pit mining, especially for low-grade resources. In ISR, the fluid–rock interaction between the target ore and the lixiviant results in valuable- (and gangue-) metal dissolution. This interaction is achieved by the injection and recovery of fluid by means of strategically positioned wells. Although the application of ISR has become more common (ISR remains the preferential processing technique for uranium and has been applied in pilot programs for treating oxide zones in copper deposits), its application to hard-rock refractory and low-grade copper-sulfide deposits is still under development. This research is focused on the possible application of ISR to primary copper sulfides usually found as deep ores. Lixiviant/oxidant selection is an important aspect to consider during planning and operation in the ISR of copper-sulfide ores. -
Arkaroola Protection Area: a Field Guide to Selected Geological Features
Arkaroola Protection Area: A field guide to selected geological features Graeme L. Worboys and Stephen B. Hore arkaroola.com.au environment.sa.gov.au Citation: Worboys, G. L. and Hore, S.B. (2013) Arkaroola Protection Area: A field guide to selected geological features. Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary and Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, Adelaide. Copyright: © This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised without the express permission of the authors. Acknowledgements: Many individuals and organisations contributed to the development of this Field Guide. The text has been sourced predominantly from the Arkaroola National Heritage Listing nomination jointly submitted to the Australian Government by the South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources and Margaret and Douglas Sprigg of the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary. Appreciation is expressed for the use of this material. The Field Guide also sourced technical geological quotes from a 2004 field guide developed by John Drexel and Stephen Hore and appreciation is extended for the use of this material. Thanks are particularly extended to Margaret and Douglas Sprigg, Lorraine Edmunds and Dennis Walter of Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary; Jason Irving of the South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources; Tim Baker of the Geological Survey of South Australia; the Geological Society of Australia (South Australia Division); Jim Gehling and Joël Brugger of the South Australian Museum; the University of Adelaide; Malcolm William Wallace of the University of Melbourne; Malcolm Walter of the University of New South Wales; Narelle Neumann of Geoscience Australia; and Paul O’Brien of Helivista Helicopters (South Australia) for their assistance in the development of this material. -
4 Pages on U Mining by End of October, See Pol D
URANIUM MINING IN AUSTRALIA Friends of the Earth, Australia foe.org.au/anti-nuclear January 2013 With Australia holding 30-40% of the world's uranium mining was overturned in 2012. In WA, known conventional uranium reserves, the the Liberal government supports uranium mining uranium mining industry hopes to significantly but the Labor opposition opposes any new increase production. However the Coalition uranium mines (but might permit mines that have government, in power from 1996-2007, succeeded received prior approvals). In NSW, the Liberal in establishing only one new mine. The Beverley government supports uranium exploration but has mine in South Australia began commercial not (yet) moved to permit uranium mining. production in 2001. The tiny Honeymoon mine in SA began production in 2011 but in May 2012 joint A 2003 report by a federal Senate References and venture partner Mitsui announced that it was Legislation Committee found "a pattern of under- withdrawing from the Honeymoon project as it performance and non-compliance" in the uranium "could not foresee sufficient economic return from mining industry. It identified many gaps in the project." knowledge and found an absence of reliable data on which to measure the extent of contamination As at January 2013, there is bipartisan support for from the uranium mining industry, and it uranium mining at the federal level and in SA and concluded that changes were necessary "in order the NT. In Queensland, a long-standing ban on to protect the environment and its inhabitants from serious or irreversible damage". The history of secret nuclear weapons research, and committee concluded "that short-term states stockpiling 'civil' plutonium. -
Sell-1559, Leaching
CONTACT INFORMATION Mining Records Curator Arizona Geological Survey 416 W. Congress St., Suite 100 Tucson, Arizona 85701 520-770-3500 http://www.azgs.az.gov [email protected] The following file is part of the James Doyle Sell Mining Collection ACCESS STATEMENT These digitized collections are accessible for purposes of education and research. We have indicated what we know about copyright and rights of privacy, publicity, or trademark. Due to the nature of archival collections, we are not always able to identify this information. We are eager to hear from any rights owners, so that we may obtain accurate information. Upon request, we will remove material from public view while we address a rights issue. CONSTRAINTS STATEMENT The Arizona Geological Survey does not claim to control all rights for all materials in its collection. These rights include, but are not limited to: copyright, privacy rights, and cultural protection rights. The User hereby assumes all responsibility for obtaining any rights to use the material in excess of “fair use.” The Survey makes no intellectual property claims to the products created by individual authors in the manuscript collections, except when the author deeded those rights to the Survey or when those authors were employed by the State of Arizona and created intellectual products as a function of their official duties. The Survey does maintain property rights to the physical and digital representations of the works. QUALITY STATEMENT The Arizona Geological Survey is not responsible for the accuracy of the records, information, or opinions that may be contained in the files. The Survey collects, catalogs, and archives data on mineral properties regardless of its views of the veracity or accuracy of those data. -
Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) Repeal Bill 2019
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL STANDING COMMITTEE ON STATE DEVELOPMENT Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) Repeal Bill 2019 Report 46 March 2020 www.parliament.nsw.gov.au LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Standing Committee on State Development Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) Repeal Bill 2019 Ordered to be printed 4 March 2020 according to Standing Order 231 Report 46 - March 2020 i LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) Repeal Bill 2019 New South Wales Parliamentary Library cataloguing-in-publication data: New South Wales. Parliament. Legislative Council. Standing Committee on State Development. Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) Repeal Bill 2019 / Standing Committee on State Development. [Sydney, N.S.W.] : the Committee, 2020. – [xiv, 150] pages ; 30 cm. (Report no. 46 / Standing Committee on State Development) Chair: Hon. Taylor Martin, MLC. “March 2020” ISBN 9781920788599 1. New South Wales. Parliament. Legislative Council—Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) Repeal Bill 2018. 2. Uranium mines and mining—Law and legislation—New South Wales. 3. Nuclear industry—Law and legislation—New South Wales. 4. Nuclear energy—Law and legislation—New South Wales. I. Martin, Taylor. II. Title. III. Series: New South Wales. Parliament. Legislative Council. Standing Committee on State Development. Report ; no. 46 622.349 (DDC22) ii Report 46 - March 2020 STANDING COMMITTEE ON STATE DEVELOPMENT Table of contents Terms of reference vi Committee details vii Chair’s foreword -
Governing Uranium in Australia
A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Vestergaard, Cindy Research Report Governing uranium in Australia DIIS Report, No. 2015:11 Provided in Cooperation with: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), Copenhagen Suggested Citation: Vestergaard, Cindy (2015) : Governing uranium in Australia, DIIS Report, No. 2015:11, ISBN 978-87-7605-762-6, Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), Copenhagen This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/144725 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. -
Generic Environmental Impact Statement for In-Situ
GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR IN-SITU LEACH URANIUM MILLING FACILITIES SCOPING SUMMARY REPORT JUNE 2008 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Rockville, Maryland 1. INTRODUCTION The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) expects to receive a number of new license applications for uranium milling at sites in the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming and New Mexico over the next several years. NRC anticipates that most of these potential license applications will involve uranium milling facilities that would use the in-situ leach (ISL) process. Because there are environmental issues common to ISL milling facilities, NRC has prepared a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) to evaluate the potential environmental impacts associated with the construction, operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning at future ISL milling facilities in specific regions of interest within these four western states, where NRC is the licensing authority for uranium milling. In the ISL process, a leaching agent, such as oxygen with sodium bicarbonate, is added to native ground water for injection through wells into the subsurface ore body to dissolve the uranium. The leach solution, containing the dissolved uranium, is pumped back to the surface and sent to a processing plant, where ion exchange is used to separate the uranium from the solution. The underground leaching of the uranium also frees other metals and minerals from the host rock. Operators of ISL facilities are required to restore the ground water affected by the leaching operations. The milling process concentrates the recovered uranium into the product known as "yellowcake" (U3O8). This yellowcake is then shipped to uranium conversion facilities for further processing in the overall uranium fuel cycle. -
Managing Environmental and Health Impacts of Uranium Mining
Nuclear Development 2014 Managing Environmental and Health Impacts of Uranium Mining Managing Environmental Managing Environmental and Health Impacts of Uranium Mining NEA Nuclear Development Managing Environmental and Health Impacts of Uranium Mining © OECD 2014 NEA No. 7062 NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT The OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 34 democracies work together to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation. The OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments respond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information economy and the challenges of an ageing population. The Organisation provides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate domestic and international policies. The OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Korea, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The European Commission takes part in the work of the OECD. OECD Publishing disseminates widely the results of the Organisation’s statistics gathering and research on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as the conventions, guidelines and standards agreed by its members. This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its member countries. -
Seeking a Balance Conservation and Resource Use in the Northern Flinders Ranges
Seeking a Balance Conservation and resource use in the Northern Flinders Ranges Government of South Australia Protecting the values of the Northern Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges has some of the most recognisable and loved landscapes in South Australia, with outstanding environmental, cultural, and tourism values. The Northern Flinders Ranges is also one of the most geologically diverse and prospective areas in Australia, with a long history of exploration and mining and potential mineral and energy resources of national and international significance. The concentration of all of these values in one region is unique. Making decisions requires care to ensure that there is a balance between conservation and resource use. The State’s Development Plan for the Flinders Ranges (Land not within a Council Area (Flinders)), established under the Development Act 1993, was last consolidated in 2003. Much of the Northern Flinders Ranges lies within the Development Plan’s Environmental Class A Zone. The prime objectives of the Environmental Class A Zone seek to conserve the natural character and environment of the area and to protect the landscape from damage by mining operations and exploring for new resources. Reflecting these objectives, Government already places strict conditions and regulatory controls on mineral and energy exploration and on proposed mining activities in the region. Given the unique values of the region, the South Australian Government recognises the need to further refine the existing management and regulatory framework for ongoing resource activities. In doing this, the key environmental values of the region will be protected, and there will also be greater certainty for exploration and mining companies, landowners, traditional owners and the community. -
Manual of Acid in Situ Leach Uranium Mining Technology
IAEA-TECDOC-1239 Manual of acid in situ leach uranium mining technology August 2001 The originating Section of this publication in the IAEA was: Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Materials Section International Atomic Energy Agency Wagramer Strasse 5 P.O. Box 100 A-1400 Vienna, Austria MANUAL OF ACID IN SITU LEACH URANIUM MINING TECHNOLOGY IAEA, VIENNA, 2001 IAEA-TECDOC-1239 ISSN 1011–4289 © IAEA, 2001 Printed by the IAEA in Austria August 2001 FOREWORD An important part of the IAEA programme for reactor fuels involves eliciting and circulating information on innovative uranium production technologies. As compared with conventional mining, in situ leach (ISL) technology is both innovative and relatively young. It is recognized as having economic and environmental advantages when properly employed by knowledgeable specialists to extract uranium from suitable sandstone type deposits. In recent years ISL uranium mining has been producing about 13 to 15 per cent of world output. Because of its potential for both low cost recovery and having environmental advantages, the use of the technology will very probably increase. This may occur because sandstone hosted uranium deposits amenable to ISL recovery are relatively widespread in the world. ISL technology recovers uranium using two alternative chemical leaching systems — acid and alkaline. Acid leach is the more widely employed and has historically produced a majority of the world’s ISL production. This technology, with its origins in the 1960s, was developed and employed in the former Soviet Union and the successor states, as well as in central and eastern Europe. The report describes operational practices developed under the economic systems, together with the governmental policies and programmes prevailing over this period.