no problembtw has anyone read the article yesterday re.."newly...

no problem

btw has anyone read the article yesterday re.."newly discovered mineralisation to the north of the operation..callabonna lies north of beverly


Uranium find prompts bid to grow Beverley mine
BARRY FITZGERALD
September 21, 2009
THE footprint of the Beverley uranium mine in South Australia is to be increased to take in newly discovered mineralisation to the north of the operation.

The owner of the mine, US group Heathgate Resources, said it had lodged an application for a mining lease over the northern area, where it had found a ''significant'' zone of uranium mineralisation.

The Heathgate discovery comes as ASX-listed Curnamona has kicked off the Federal Government approvals process for the proposed development of its Oban uranium deposit in north-east South Australia.

It also follows the Rudd Government's approval, in July, of the development of the Four Mile mine - so named for its distance from the Beverley operation. Four Mile is a joint venture between Heathgate sister company Quasar and ASX-listed Alliance Resources.

Four Mile's approval by federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett was the first by the Labor Party since it abandoned its ban on new mine developments in 2007. Mr Garrett, a former anti-uranium activist who stood for the Nuclear Disarmament Party, said he was ''certain this operation poses no credible risk to the environment'' after it was subjected to a ''rigorous and comprehensive assessment''.

Four Mile will be Australia's first new uranium mine in almost a decade and the 10th-biggest in the world.

But the big uranium developments that could triple Australia's annual uranium exports to 30,000 tonnes are further off. BHP plans to triple output at Olympic Dam - the world's biggest deposit - and is investigating developing the Yeelerrie deposit in Western Australia. In that state, Canada's Cameco and Japan's Mitsubishi also want to develop the Kintyre deposit.

Four Mile, like the Beverley mine and the proposed Oban project, will be mined by ''in-situ leach''. A weak acid solution is pumped underground, into the uranium-bearing formation, through a series of wells. The solution dissolves the uranium and leaves other substances behind. The uranium-rich solution is then returned to the surface, where the uranium is extracted and treated.