#Official Mining Thread

[rhino]

* Potential water supply to open up the vast northern tracts of South Australia to industry and agriculture

This bit made me laugh.
AFAIAA this project is about 300km NNW of Olympic Dam, and about 70km southwest of Oodnadatta. I'm curious as to where this potential water supply is going to come from. And what agriculture they are thinking of - dates, maybe?

Having said that, I hope it goes ahead anyway. I wonder what the longevity of the project will be, and if it's long enough, whether the Govt will request a permanent workforce or settle for FIFO.

[Wayno]

yep i don't know much about it, but they're saying this project can provide a managed, sustained water supply which *could* be used for crops in the northern regions of South Australia. IMO it's more likely to be used by other local mining operations. I also suppose it depends on your definition of 'north'. Presumably they could pipe water hundreds of kilometres - say towards the Eyre Peninsula.

The other thing to note is this Altona project will go a along way to helping SA & NT regain self-sufficiency in diesel fuel, following the closure of the Port Stanvac refinery.

More info, such as its lifespan, can be accurately estimated once the drilling program is complete.

[rev]

It's called the Great Artesian Basin. Surely you guys have heard of it?
It holds enough fresh water to cover the whole planet in half a meter of water.



Coincidentally, since we are on the topic of water, the water that it provides to inland communities, is of a much higher quality then the cities, particularly Adelaide.
Go to Coober Pedy for example, and drink the tap water. It's like another substance all together to what we call tap water down here in Adelaide.

Some communities have been opposed to some mining projects, or aspects of them, because there is the risk of contaminating this water supply. And it's happened.

[Waewick]

what the whole basin has been contaminated?

[AG]

what the whole basin has been contaminated?

There's been claims of contamination of water supplies of some parts of inland Queensland due to the fracking process used in extracting coal seam gas.

[Wayno]

Rev, yep I know about the great artesian basin, and what we're questioning is the potential use for agriculture in northern SA.

Waewick, contamination occurs at various locations & depths - depends mostly upon localised natural geology, and also human intervention as AG quite rightly points out.

[rev]

Personally I think it would be a huge, monumental waste, to use that water for agriculture. It is not an unlimited supply. So it's biggest use should be to provide drinking water for outback communities.

Agriculture in the desert? Well, Israel has managed to do it, so why couldn't we?

But then Israel doesn't have the space we do. Imagine the transport costs they would tack on to produce from the far north.

[rhino]

Thankyou Rev, yes of course i know of the Great Artesian Basin, I was hoping that was not going to be the source of their water.

With regard to agriculture in the desert, it requires more than just water - the soil needs to have certain elements in it too. Some crops will work (e.g. dates, possibly oranges (they work in israel)). But will the cost of putting the trace elements into the soil be worth it once transport costs for produce to market have been taken into account? There is small scale horticulture near Ti Tree north of Alice Springs, but the reason it's small scale is because it services the local area (mainly Alice Springs) and it's not economical to go large scale.

[Wayno]

Prominent Hill expansion starts production, further expansion expected

Here's an update on a reasonably large SA mining operation that gets little media exposure.

The original Oz Minerals Prominent Hill (gold/copper) lode, named 'Manu' was discovered in 2001 and production commenced (as an open cut mine) in 2009. More recently the same company discovered a similar high-quality lode (named 'Ankata') only 800 metres away and production has just started (as an underground mine). Ankata is expected to reach full capacity in the next few months.

Per annum capacity for Manu is 100,000 tonnes of copper & 130,000 ounces of gold. Per annum capacity for Ankata will be 25,000 tonnes of copper and 12,000 ounces of gold. Total employment (mostly via fly in/out) is 1200 people.

OZ Minerals is exploring the Prominent Hill area for further deposits, and has access to a total of 7,000 kilometres of highly prospective territory in SA. In 2012 alone they spent $70 million on exploration in our state.

[dsriggs]

Pssh... Haven't you heard? There's only 1 mining project & if it's postponed the state is bankrupt!! This forum's been telling us that for MONTHS!!

[Aidan]

Pssh... Haven't you heard? There's only 1 mining project & if it's postponed the state is bankrupt!! This forum's been telling us that for MONTHS!!

That's not this forum, that's Tony Abbott!

[Waewick]

http://www.news.com.au/national/bhp-poi ... 6455884519

BHP 'poised to backflip on Olympic Dam' - report

getting ugly, government holding presser at 4.15

[Alyx]

BHP Billiton has cancelled its $US20 billion expansion of the Olympic Dam copper-uranium mine in the State's far north.

The company was meant to have confirmed the expansion of the mine by December 15 under an indenture agreement with the South Australian Government.

In a statement released this afternoon, the company said it would be discussing the "implications" of its decision with the South Australian Government in the coming months.

BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers said current market conditions, including subdued commodity prices and higher capital costs, had led to the decision.

"As we finalised all the details of the project in the context of current market conditions, our strategy and capital management priorities, it became clear that the right decision for the Company and its shareholders was to continue studies to develop a less capital intensive option to replace the underground mine at Olympic Dam," he said.

"As with any capital commitment, all investment options are scrutinised as they move through our approvals process and our highest returning projects are prioritised. Value is always our primary consideration. We believe todays decision reflects an appropriate, prudent and disciplined course of action.

"However, the long term outlook for the copper market remains strong and we will continue to work closely with all stakeholders as we refine our longer term development plans for this unique, world class ore body. We want to find the right solution to unlock this resource."

BHP Billiton chief executive (non-ferrous) Andrew Mackenzie said the South Australian Government's support for the project should be commended.

"The South Australian Government has been fully supportive of Olympic Dam and has created an environment that is highly conducive to business investment," he said.

"We have been very much encouraged by their attitude to business development and the Olympic Dam expansion project.

"Olympic Dam is a resource of enormous potential and we will continue to work on technological and design alternatives that have the potential to substantially improve the economics of the expansion, while also completing some early stage site works."

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has called a media conference for 3.45pm (SA time), ahead of the global miner's annual results being released at 4pm (SA time).

In question time in Federal Parliament today, Prime Minister Julia Gillard was asked to guarantee the outlook of the project.

"We have legislated carbon pricing so BHP when they are making those decisions can do it against a backdrop of certainty," she said.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/bhp-poise ... 6455884519

[UrbanSG]

FFS !!!

SA really can't catch a break economically. Wanking around for more than 7 years and finally it's ready to be approved and 6-8 months out everything falls in a heap.

Major blow to SA!

[Waewick]

FFS !!!

SA really can't catch a break economically. Wanking around for more than 7 years and finally it's ready to be approved and 6-8 months out everything falls in a heap.

Major blow to SA!

I'm waiting for some of the posters with an understanding of the industry to make comment

but from my perspective this is a disaster - the number of project which were/are relying on this, or will now use it as an excuse to cancel projects is going to be the biggest issue.

I reckon we can kiss any of the apartment developments good bye as well as some of the hotels.