Beverley Mine near Flinders Ranges know about it

Uranium is being mined at Beverley near Arkaroola, just north east of the Flinders Ranges by Heathgate Resources. It has been operating as a "trial" mine since 2nd January '98. Heathgate Resources is a subsidiary of General Atomics USA and is 100% foreign owned.

They use a method known as in situ leach (ISL) mining. ISL involves injecting a leachate, either alkali or acid, into the aquifer (water table) to dissolve the uranium, and then the liquid is pumped back to the surface where the yellow cake is removed. At Beverley, Heathgate use an acid leachate. This is the more environmentally damaging choice, but removes more uranium per volume of leachate than alkali. It also releases more heavy metals and radionuclides into the ground water. The sulphuric acid used is 5X stronger than battery acid. There has never been a commercial acid ISL uranium mine in the western world. Only eastern bloc countries and China have used this method. They are still cleaning up the mess. In the US, General Atomics would be required to rehabilitate the ground water, but here they are not required to do so. In fact, they used acid leachate, saturated with heavy metals and radionuclides and pumped back into the aquifer. A responsible company would evaporate the liquid wastes and properly manage the solids. Heathgate do not know where this radioactive waste goes when it leaves the mine lease, but there are concerns that it will find its way to the Great Artesian Basin.

Heathgate do not measure gamma radiation doses to the workers, they are estimated. Nor do they measure emissions of radon gas increases, they are predicted with computer modelling.

On 12th March '98 a pipe containing leachate solution burst and 500 litres of the solution sprayed onto the surrounding earth. The area was cordoned off with tape but no effort has been made to clean it up. Heathagte have a responsibility to inform the public of any radiation spills, they didn't do so. The Australian Conservation Foundation uncovered the spill after much investigation.

The Liberal Government believes uranium to be the same as any other mineral, and should be mined as such. There are 26 proposed new Uranium mines in Australia. As more mines are built the instances of radioactive spills and environmental negligence will increase as will incidences of cancer. Uranium and its decay products remain radioactive for 100,000s of years.