PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining major BHP on Wednesday confirmed the viability of heap leach technology to extract copper, uranium, gold and silver at its Olympic Dam operation, in South Australia.
The miner started heap leach research and a development trial in 2012, which was conducted at a purpose built, small-scale heap leach facility.
BHP's Olympic Dam surface processing GM, Chris Barnesby, said on Wednesday that the results from the trial supported the company’s positive outlook for the Olympic Dam operation, given the forecast demand increases for copper and the optionality we are building for this world-scale resource.
“We safely and successfully produced 19 t of good quality copper, most of which went back into the smelter and off to customers, though we kept a little to ourselves to commemorate the achievement.
“Whether we deploy heap leach at Olympic Dam is a matter for future consideration, as there are many factors involved including passing through our capital allocation framework.
“As it stands today, we have confirmed the viability of a technology with the potential to join our suite of growth options. However, our immediate focus is on operating safely and reliably, and setting a foundation to unlock more value for BHP and for South Australia over the long term,” Barnesby said.
Separate to the trial, BHP also continued to progress studies for a brownfield expansion project as part of Olympic Dam’s resource development strategy to potentially increase production to between 240 000 t/y and 300 000 t/y.