Author Archive: Nectaria

Friends of the Earth Adelaide > Articles by: Nectaria

Olympic Dam expansion – update

October 28, 2015

Since the expansion was shelved in 2012, BHP Billiton has announced its intention to investigate heap leach mining as an alternative, cheaper method of processing mined ore.

In July 2014 the company projected that pending government approvals, construction of a heap leach demonstration plant would begin in the second half of 2015, with a 36 month trial period beginning late 2016. In August 2014 the company received Federal approval for a heap leach demonstration plant. It is yet to receive state approval, and reports suggest that it is yet to be sought, with recent comments in the media by SA Premier Jay Weatherill suggesting that even the state government is unclear about the company’s intentions regarding this project.

It’s been reported that the company has been conducting laboratory trials at Wingfield, South Australia, and that they have been so successful that BHP may skip the demonstration plant stage and progress straight to a full scale facility.

BHP has until October 2016 to proceed with an expansion under the approvals given for the expansion it shelved in 2012. Even though heap leach processing was not considered under its original Environmental Impact Statement, the Federal government approved the trial without requiring any further environmental assessment.

FoE

CANE Update

August 11, 2015

FOE Adelaide has of late been focused on critical engagement with the Royal Commission into the Nuclear Fuel Cycle. Submissions have been made on all four of the Issues Papers, which cover the four areas the Royal Commission is tasked to consider – the expansion of uranium mining, nuclear energy generation, processing and waste storage. Last month our anti-nuclear campaigner travelled to Copley to attend a community meeting about the Royal Commission and to support submission drafting. FOE Adelaide has also been convening the anti-nuclear coalition meetings, held every 3 – 4 weeks at Mad Mouse Alley.

FOE has communicated to the Royal Commission concerns regarding various issues that have arisen since the Royal Commission was announced that seriously undermine its claimed impartiality, including:

• The lack of balance on the Royal Commissions Expert Advisory Committee between proponents and critics of the nuclear industry

• The pecuniary interests in nuclear related companies of the Royal Commissioner and some of his staff

• The potential conflict of interest of Expert Advisory Committee member Tim Stone, who is non-executive director of Horizon Nuclear Power, a UK nuclear energy company, and wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi

• The restrictive and formalistic submissions process, including the requirement that they are signed by a Justice of the Peace

• Failure to produce the Issues Papers in any Aboriginal language, despite the fact that the nuclear industry disproportionately affects Aboriginal communities in South Australia, and that in some Aboriginal communities English is not spoken as a first language

• A factual error in Issues Paper 1, misrepresenting the legal framework of Aboriginal Heritage in South Australia, and completely omitting any reference to the extraordinary legal exemptions enjoyed by BHP Billiton at its Olympic Dam mine and the surrounding area, which would also apply to any future expansion by the company

FoE, Old_Notes