South Australia is recognised for its high prospectivity for uranium and proven track record of uranium mining.

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About uranium

  • Uranium is a naturally occurring, mildly radioactive element, widely distributed in the Earth’s crust, rivers and oceans.
  • It is about as common as tin and more abundant than gold, silver or mercury.
  • Uranium ore is mined in open-cut or underground operations (sometimes with other metals such as gold or copper) or through in situ recovery from wells drilled into the deposit.
  • Ore is processed into uranium oxide concentrate (UOC) which contains uranium oxide as either U3O8 or UO4.
  • UOC is commonly termed yellowcake and exported in powder form in accordance with International Standards.
  • UOC is chemically and physically stable and cannot itself sustain a nuclear chain reaction – significant additional processing (conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication) is required before it can be used to generate power.
  • Australian uranium is only used for peaceful purposes – as a fuel for civilian nuclear power and to produce medical and industrial isotopes.

More information about uranium resources can be found at Minerals Council of Australia – Uranium

Uranium in South Australia

South Australia is a major exporter of uranium oxide and attracts many companies (including global majors) to explore, develop and mine uranium.

  • South Australia hosts:
    • approximately 80% of Australia’s economic demonstrated resources of uranium.
    • approximately 23% of the world’s uranium resources.
  • The Olympic Dam deposit in South Australia is the largest uranium deposit in the world, containing more than 2 million tonnes of uranium oxide.
  • South Australian uranium mines lead the nation's production with 5497 tonnes of uranium oxide produced in 2020.
  • South Australia hosts four approved uranium mines:
Uranium occurrences

South Australian uranium occurrences (PDF 820 KB)

South Australian uranium occurrences with mineral deposit listing (PDF 2.5 MB)

South Australia's advantage

  • Demonstrated experience with technologies for processing uranium ore, developed from the state’s uranium mines using different ore beneficiation processes.
  • Proven safe uranium handling and transportation systems (35 year record).
  • Has one port (Port Adelaide) of only two Australian ports approved for uranium exports.
  • Produces around 10% of the world’s uranium, indicating there is significant potential for long term production and expansion.
  • Has the demonstrated geology with high potential for further discoveries.

Supportive Government

  • The South Australian Government openly and actively supports exploration for uranium in South Australia.
  • The project approvals process has been streamlined to improve transparency and promote efficiency in mining operations while effectively ensuring the safety and protection of the public, workers and the environment.

Regulatory framework

Uranium exploration and mining in South Australia is governed by:

The Act and the Regulations require licences for both exploration and mining on ground works.

Information on searching for open ground and exploration licence application

South Australia requires companies to submit and have approved a PEPR (program for environment protection and rehabilitation) before any mining starts. These documents address all criteria, including environmental management and mine closure.

The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is responsible for the administration of the Environment Protection Act 1993 and the Radiation Protection and Control Act 2021. The South Australian Government has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the EPA to support the consistent and efficient environmental regulation of mineral resources.

The South Australian government works with the Commonwealth to streamline assessment and regulatory requirements under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

The Australian regulatory framework for the uranium industry is widely recognised as being effective and representing world’s best practice. Export licences are granted under strict Commonwealth legislation that ensures that uranium is used solely for the generation of electricity.

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Exports

  • South Australia exports all the uranium oxide concentrate that is produced.
  • No enrichment is undertaken in Australia.
  • Uranium oxide concentrate from the state’s operating uranium mines is exported exclusively for the generation of electricity in civil nuclear reactors. Contracts are in place with the United Kingdom, France, China, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Canada, the United States and Spain.

Uranium production

Uranium is one of the state’s major mineral commodities produced, with total sales value of $521 million (5,497 t) in 2020.

Between 2000 and 2020, South Australia has produced and exported over $6.7 billion (97,244 t) of uranium oxide concentrate.

South Australian uranium production 2000-2020

South Australian uranium production (source: Resource production statistics).

Approved and operating mines

Company released resource estimates and production statistics for South Australia's major operating and approved mines are summarised in South Australia's major operating/approved mines: resource estimates and production statistics (PDF, updated regularly).

Olympic Dam

  • Multi-commodity underground mine producing copper, gold, uranium oxide and silver.
  • World’s largest uranium deposit.
  • Total resource — 10,070 Mt at 0.62%Cu, 0.21 kg/t U3O8
  • Ore reserve — 448 Mt at 1.88%Cu, 0.57 kg/t U3O8, 0.69 g/t Au, 4.0 g/t Ag
  • Dominant uranium mineral is pitchblende with minor coffinite and brannerite.

More information regarding the mining operation, compliance reporting and approvals

Four Mile

  • Discovered in 2005.
  • One of the highest-grade uranium deposits of this type discovered anywhere in the world in recent times.
  • Production commenced in 2014.
  • Paleocene sandstone-hosted mineralisation.
  • Four Mile West is hosted in Cretaceous strata.

More information regarding the mining operation, compliance reporting and approvals

Beverley and Beverley North

  • Production commenced in 1999.
  • Currently in care and maintenance however the plants are processing product from the Four Mile Uranium Mine.
  • Mineralisation primarily coffinite with some uraninite.

More information regarding the mining operations, compliance reporting and approvals

Honeymoon

  • In-situ recovery mine
  • Will restart production by the end of 2023 following a period of care and maintenance.
  • Deposit occurs as five discrete mineralised sand packages, located near the confluence of a major tributary entering the Yarramba paleochannel.

More information regarding the mining operation, compliance reporting and approvals


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Developing projects

Samphire

  • Located on the Eyre Peninsula close to Whyalla.
  • 11.4 Mt resource at 720 ppm U3O8 (250 ppm U3O8 cut-off grade).
  • Comprises two uranium historical prospects (Blackbush and Plumbush) on Alligator Energy’s Exploration Licences 5926 and 6350, with further licence applications surrounding the project pending approval.
  • Will utilise in-situ recovery.
  • The mineralisation is sediment-hosted uranium mineralisation in Eocene paleochannels eroded into the fractionated and uranium-rich Samphire granite.

Crocker Well

  • 150 km west of Broken Hill and 400 km north of Adelaide in the Curnamona region of South Australia.
  • 18.84 Mt (ind. and inf.) at 0.03% U3O8 250,000 t (inf.) at 0.16% U3O8, and the resource contained commodity 5290 t U3O8.
  • Mineralisation is primarily thorian brannerite in igneous rock with some davidite.

Junction Dam

  • 50 km west of Broken Hill within the Curnamona region of South Australia.
  • 4.36 Mt resource at 0.044% (basal) and 0.025% (upper) eU3O8, while the resource contained commodity is 1,510 t eU3O8.
  • Located within the same Yarramba Paleochannel as Honeymoon Uranium mine.
  • Mineralisation is hosted within carbonaceous and pyritic sediments of the Eyre Formation.

Exploration

Between 2000 and 2021, mineral exploration companies have spent $477 million exploring for uranium in South Australia. This has led to discoveries including the Four Mile uranium deposit.

Uranium expenditure 2020


Exploration licence holders listing uranium as a commodity can be found by searching SARIG.

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Geological environments

South Australia remains one of the most prospective regions in the world for uranium discovery. Uranium mineralisation is widespread and found in most geological provinces throughout South Australia.

Uranium exploration has largely focused on four uranium mineral systems:

  • Hybrid-uranium mineral system e.g. Olympic Dam, Acropolis, Emmie Bluff, Vulcan, Wirrda Well (breccia complex, iron-oxide–copper–gold±uranium (IOCG±U), i.e. ‘Olympic Dam’ style).
  • Basin and surface-related uranium mineral system e.g. Four Mile, Beverley, Beverley North, Billeroo, Honeymoon, Oban, Warrior, Yarramba Paleochannels (sandstone-hosted) and Ranger, Jabiluka (unconformity-related).
  • Magmatic-related uranium mineral system e.g. Crocker Well.
  • Metamorphic-related uranium mineral system e.g. Curnamona Province, Radium Hill, the Mount Painter region and the Adelaide Geosyncline.

Known uranium occurrences and significant geological parameters for each deposit type have been collated and represented spatially as ‘key ingredients’ maps.

The Geological Survey of South Australia undertakes work to determine the interaction between deposit type and these parameters, to improve predictive modelling outcomes and delineate areas of interest for uranium exploration.

Hybrid-uranium mineral system

It is clear from the giant Olympic Dam deposit that the c.1590 Ma Mesoproterozoic thermal event in South Australia introduced highly anomalous uranium throughout the crust. This event, coincident with emplacement of Hiltaba Suite granites and Gawler Range Volcanics and equivalents, affected all of the central and eastern Gawler Craton as well as the central and northern Curnamona Province.

The legacy for explorers is a very large region prospective for hard rock IOCG±U deposits. The dense, hematite-rich mineralised systems are readily identified by detailed gravity survey data.

Basin and surface-related uranium mineral system

Sandstone-hosted

The Gawler Craton and central Curnamona Province were eroded by widespread major river systems during the Cenozoic. Uranium has been deposited in reduced lithologies within these channel systems. At the Honeymoon deposit, the damming of the river systems and subsequent precipitation of uranium appears to be controlled by minor movements along small-scale faults within underlying basement. Cenozoic paleochannnels have been explored and remain targets for uranium exploration e.g. Kingoonya, Wynbring, Narlaby, Wanilla, Garford etc.

Unconformity-related

Much of the upper part of the Gawler Range Volcanics was eroded and redeposited in the ~1400 Ma Mesoproterozoic Cariewerloo Basin. Potential targets are at the base adjacent to graphitic schists within Paleoproterozoic metasediments or within this extensive, poorly explored basin adjacent to reduced lithologies. Ongoing investigations into the uranium potential of the Cariewerloo Basin are being undertaken by the Geological Survey of South Australia.

Magmatic-related uranium mineral system

In the Crocker Well area, uranium primarily occurs as thorian-brannerite mineralisation as a disseminated accessory mineral or in fractures, breccias or quartz veins in sodic, plagioclase-rich granitoids and gneisses. Uranium in the form of davidite occurs in the east of the deposit and at the Mount Victoria deposit.

Metamorphic-related uranium mineral system

Metamorphic-related uranium mineral systems involve deposition from either true metamorphic fluids, or fluids that have extensively reacted with metamorphic rocks at elevated temperatures. Metasomatic and some vein-style deposits are probably derived from a range of magmatic-hydrothermal to metamorphic fluids.

In South Australia, examples of metamorphic-related uranium systems occur in the Curnamona Province, Radium Hill, the Mount Painter region and the Adelaide Geosyncline.