Olympic Dam expands capacity

The expanding Olympic Dam polymetallic mining project in northern Australia should be processing six million tonnes of material per year by the mid-1990s.

The annual production by mid-decade is expected to be 150,000 tonnes refined copper, 4,000 tonnes uranium oxide, 100,000 oz. gold and one million ounces silver.

A recent expansion has seen milling capacity increased to 2.2 million tonnes per year; hoisting is currently at capacity. Western Mining Corp. Holdings owns 51% of the project, which has an estimated mine life of 100 years.