BHP to expand Olympic Dam

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BHP Billiton is seeking the approval of the Australian, South Australian and Northern Territory governments for a significant expansion of its existing mining and processing operation at Olympic Dam in southern Australia.

Located 560 km north of Adelaide, Olympic Dam is the world’s fourth largest known remaining copper and gold deposit and the largest known uranium deposit. The proposed expansion would be a progressive development, requiring construction activity over a period of 11 years. The project schedule will ultimately depend on the timing and nature of government approvals and the final investment decision of the BHP Board.

The proposed expansion is centred on the creation of a new open pit mine that would operate simultaneously with the existing underground mine and increase ore production six-fold, from 12Mt/y to 72Mt/y. The existing smelter would be expanded and a new concentrator and hydrometallurgical plant built to process the additional ore and generate additional concentrate for transport.

Major infrastructure expansions required to deal with the increase in activity will include; the construction of a 280Ml/d coastal desalination plant on Upper Spencer Gulf, either an additional 270km electricity transmission line from Port Augusta to Olympic Dam, or a gas pipeline from Moomba and a new gas-fired power station the mine.

 The mine will also require; a 105km rail line to connect Olympic Dam to the national rail network, a new airport to replace the existing facility at the Olympic Dam, additional port facilities in South Australia and in the Northern Territory to import supplies and export product, a new accommodation village for workers and expansion of the Roxby Downs township 14km south of the mine, where most of the mine's workforce would continue to live.

Over the last five years, BHP has prepared a detailed Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) to explain the impacts and benefits of its proposed actions. As it is difficult to make predictions about markets and technologies over the very long term, BHP has set the time frame for the assessments at 40 years. However, the size of the mineral resource suggests that mining could continue well beyond that time, in which case further environmental approvals would be required.

The proposal follows the publication of previous EIS studies in 1982 and 1997 to permit the development of Olympic Dam to its current status as Australia’s largest underground mine.

The Draft EIS will be on public exhibition for 14 weeks during which submissions can be made to government about the proposed expansion. At the end of this period BHP will prepare a Supplementary EIS to respond to all of the issues raised.

The Federal, South Australian and Northern Territory governments will then consider the proposal and make their decisions about the project. BHP will provide estimated costs if the project is approved for execution by the Board, and subject to governmental approval, the company will then be in a position to consider the next steps for the project.