Olympic Dam mine biggest uranium oxide producer in Australia from world's biggest deposit of uranium

Olymic Dam dominant among South Australia's four uranium mines. The yellow dots represents uranium finds around the state.

Olympic Dam mine in South Australia’s north became Australia’s largest producer of uranium oxide or yellowcake in 2013. The Olympic Dam uranium deposit was the largest in the world, containing more than two million tonnes of uranium oxide.

All uranium oxide produced at Olympic Dam was exported through Port Adelaide and brought in 20% of the mine’s income. In keeping with mine owner BHP’s drive to improve refining at Olympic Dam, it installed two pulsed columns that increased uranium recovery out of solution from 90% to about 97%. These columns used an air pulse to mix the acidic and organic solutions, providing better contact for the chemical reaction that transferred the uranium from one to the other.

Olympic Dam was the biggest of South Australia’s four uranium mines. The others, Beverly and Beverley North (Heathgate Resources), Four Mile (Quasar Resources) and Honeymoon (Boss Resources), were in the state’s northeast.

South Australia produced and exported 5493 tonnes (valued at $499 million) of uranium oxide in 2016. This was 63% of Australia’s mined uranium oxide production of 6,946 tonnes in 2016 and around 10% of world production.

In the 2007-2016 decade, uranium mining contributed more than $3.5 billion in export revenue to the South Australian economy and $141 million in royalties to South Australians through the government.