Uranium in South Australia Contents
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URANIUM IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA CONTENTS SOUTH AUSTRALIA IN CONTEXT PAGE Global Resources 3 Australia’s Resources 4 South Australia’s Resources & Production 5 MAJOR MINES AND PROSPECTS Major Mines & Developing Projects 6 Prospects 7 FURTHER INFORMATION South Australia – The Low Risk Mining Jurisdiction 8 Research and Development 9 Information Resources 11 Olympic Dam Resource Taxation 12 Foreign Investment in South Australian Uranium 13 Legislation and Regulation 14 PROJECT SUMMARIES Operating Mines 15 Developing Projects 21 Prospects 25 Worker in a Beverley wellfield GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF IDENTIFIED URANIUM RESOURCES (<USD130/kgU) Russia 9% Canada Kazakhstan 8% Ukraine 12% Mongolia 2% 2% Uzbekistan 2% USA China 4% 3% Niger 7% Tanzania 1% Brazil Botswana 5% 1% Australia Namibia 29% 6% South Australia 23% South Africa 6% • South Australia has more than 23% of global identified uranium • South Australia is internationally recognised for its high prospectivity resources (recoverable at <USD130/kgU). and proven track record of uranium mining. • Over the last 25 years South Australia has been continuously • There are currently 12 compelling uranium investment opportunities in producing uranium oxide. South Australia. Source: IAEA 2014 Red Book, Geoscience Australia - Australia’s Minerals Resources Assessment 2013 3 AUSTRALIA’S URANIUM RESOURCES Identified Resources (RAR & Inferred) THE GLOBAL LEADER FOR URANIUM RESOURCES 2,000 1,800 • Australia has a substantial allocation of the world’s uranium resources, 1,600 especially defined under the lower risk RAR (Reasonably Assured 1,400 Resources) metric. Australia hosts 29% of the world’s uranium 1,200 resources (RAR and inferred) recoverable at <USD130/kgU. 1,000 kilotonnes 800 600 • Australia has a rich 60-year history of uranium mining with the first 400 mine operating in 1954 in South Australia. 200 - Australia Kazakhstan Canada Russian Brazil Federation • Australia is a globally recognised, low-risk uranium mining jurisdiction with a streamlined regulatory framework aimed to <USD40/kgU USD40-80/kgU USD80-130/kgU USD130-260/kgU facilitate increased investment and participation in mining projects. Australia’s Share of Global Uranium Resources • Australia is a preferred supplier of the global uranium market, (RAR and Inferred) currently exporting to: 40% • Japan 35% • USA 30% • China 25% • South Korea 20% • Canada 15% 29% • Taiwan 10% 24% • Various European Union nations. 5% 0% <USD130/ kgU <USD260/ kgU Source: World Nuclear Association, Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism, IAEA Red Book 2014. Cost categories are used to identify economic feasibility of exploitation by 4 identifying the cost of uranium recovered at the ore processing plant. SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S RESOURCES & PRODUCTION Economic Demonstrated Uranium Resources • South Australia hosts four of Australia’s six approved As at December 2012 Uranium projects with 58% of national production in 2015. • South Australia is home to Port Adelaide, one of only two ports in Australia authorised for uranium export (WA to ship via Port Adelaide or Darwin). Northern Territory • Olympic Dam is the world’s largest uranium deposit with 2.5 10% Mt of U3O8. Queensland 4% Western • South Australia is underutilising its identified resources demonstrating potential to support further long term Australia SOUTH 6% AUSTRALIA development. 80% Production vs Identified Resources <USD130/kgU (2012) 40% 36% % World Production (U3O8) % Resources (<130/kgU) 29% 30% 23% 20% 15% 12% 12% 9% 8% 8% 8% 10% 7% 7% 6% • South Australia is home to 80% of Australia’s Economic 5% Demonstrated uranium resources recoverable at <US$130/kg U. Due to the highly prospective geology there are substantial 0% opportunities to discover further deposits. South Australia Australia Kazakhstan Russia Canada Niger Namibia Source: Geoscience Australia, IAEA Red Book 2014 5 MAJOR MINES & DEVELOPING PROJECTS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA OPERATING MINES MINE OPERATOR JORC U308 DEPOSIT RESOURCE RESOURCE TYPE (tonnes) Olympic Dam* BHP Billiton 10,100 Mt at 2,525,000 Breccia 0.025% Beverley Heathgate 7.7 Mt at 0.27% 21,000 Sandstone Resources Beverley North Heathgate 2.2 Mt at 0.18% 4,000 Sandstone Resources Four Mile Quasar Resources 9.7 Mt at 0.33% 32,000 Sandstone Alliance Resources Honeymoon Boss Resources 37.3 Mt at 640ppm 23,800 Sandstone (Care & Maintenance) eU308 TOTAL OPERATING MINES 2,605,800 DEVELOPING PROJECTS PROJECT OPERATOR JORC U308 DEPOSIT RESOURCE RESOURCE TYPE (tonnes) Junction Dam Marmota 4.36 Mt at 0.0437% 1,510 eU308 Sandstone Energy Ltd Teck, PlatSearch, etc. Samphire Uranium SA 64.5 Mt at 0.0230% 14,850 eU308 Sandstone Crocker Well Sinosteel 18.84 Mt at 0.03% 5,290 Vein Corporation TOTAL DEVELOPING PROJECTS 21,650 Source: Company reports, Intierra, Department of State Development 6 * Uranium is a co-product MINING PROSPECTS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA PROSPECTS LOCATION OPERATOR DEPOSIT TYPE Acropolis / Aphrodite * BHP Billiton Ltd Breccia Becaroo* Sinosteel Corporation Sandstone Blanchewater (Maree) Cauldron Energy Ltd Sandstone Fitton Core Exploration Ltd Breccia Mount Victoria Sinosteel Corporation N/A Victory (Edward Creek) Reedy Lagoon Corp Ltd N/A Vulcan* Tasman Resources Breccia Yadglin (Lake Frome JV) Heathgate Resources Sandstone A number of companies are currently operating in SA under the exploration model based on the analogy of the Chu-Saryssu and Syrdarya uranium fields in Kazakhstan. The economic sandstone- hosted uranium deposits occur up to 250km from the uranium source region. Source: Company reports, Intierra, Department of State Development * Uranium is a co-product 7 SOUTH AUSTRALIA – THE LOW-RISK MINING JURISDICTION ROBUST GROWING ECONOMY • South Australia has experienced 22 years of uninterrupted annual growth. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FRASER INSTITUTE SURVEY OF MINING • Opening up new areas for exploration. COMPANIES • World leading geoscientific data. • South Australia continues to perform well across key metrics in the Fraser Institute's survey, achieving 3 top 10 global • World class drill core library. rankings in 2015 out of 109 jurisdictions. • Co-funding for exploration drilling. • South Australia ranked highest in the world for Geological th • Mining Industry Participation Office. Databases that encourage investment, 5 globally for legal system and 10th globally for Investment Attractiveness. • PACE Copper MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA 2012 RESOURCESTOCKS MAGAZINE WORLD RISK SCORECARD SURVEY • Scorecard results for 2012 (released in June 2013) reveal that • South Australia was ranked 11th in the world for lowest South Australia leads all jurisdictions in Australia and risk resource investment destination. New Zealand for the majority of mining approval, • The survey asks global investors, executives and brokers environmental assessments and land access policies and around the world to rate various mining jurisdictions based on regulation. factors like red and green tape, infrastructure, sovereign risk and land access. 8 Source: Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies 2014, RESOURCESTOCKS Magazine World Risk Survey 2014 8 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT MINING AND PETROLEUM SERVICES CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE PARTNERS INCLUDE: • OZ Minerals The South Australian Government has committed $10 million over five years as innovation seed funding toward the development of strategically important capabilities in areas such as: • BHP Billiton • Deep resource exploration and deep mining • Institute for Mineral and Energy Resources at the University of Adelaide • Next generation minerals processing • Ian Wark Centre at the University of South • Leading practice in mine rehabilitation and environmental protection Australia • Mine to mill optimisation, ore selection and pre-concentration, mine logistics • Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial • Automating the resource sector through innovative ICT applications across the entire mining Research Organisation (CSIRO) lifecycle • Deep Exploration Technology Cooperative • Leading practice in multiple land use policy and community engagement Research Centre • Deep gas well operations and training. CASE STUDY: REMOTE OPERATIONS CENTRE (ROC) • An eight month study for a collaborative Remote Operations Centre (ROC) for the minerals and energy sectors in South Australia was successfully completed in 2014 and has set the foundation for an information and communications technology (ICT) innovation platform for remote applications. • The ROC is a collaborative innovation project between OZ Minerals, the University of South Australia, IPACS Power and the State Government. • The ROC project looked at how remote vibration analysis of important equipment at a distant mine site can indicate impending problems and future failures, providing the opportunity for equipment to be repaired ahead of failure and allows it to be used more intensively for longer periods of time. 9 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DEEP EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES COOPERATIVE RESEARCH RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS: CENTRE (DET CRC) • Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial • Established in 2010, the DET CRC is the world’s best-supported independent Research Organisation (CSIRO) research initiative in mineral exploration with $145m of cash and in-kind funding • The University of Adelaide from the Commonwealth Government of Australia and its Participants The DET CRC will deliver research programs in more successful, cheaper and • Curtin University (Western Australia) safer ways to drill, analyse and target deep mineral deposits • Industry participants include BHP Billiton, Heathgate Resources,