Expansion Overview
BHP Billiton is proposing a major expansion of its Olympic Dam mine in South Australia.
Olympic Dam has the capacity to mine 10 million tonnes of ore and advanced processing technology to produce refined copper, silver and gold metal and uranium oxide. The proposed expansion is likely to see the current underground mining operation eventually converted to open pit. In a staged expansion, annual ore production will increase up to 70 million tonnes. If the expansion proceeds, copper production will increase from approximately 180, 000 tonnes a year to approximately 730,000 tonnes.
The proposed expansion is currently in the selection phase.
The proposed Olympic Dam mine expansion is subject to legislation administered by the Australian and South Australian governments came under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and pursuant to the South Australian Development Act 1993 and the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act 1982.
The Australian and South Australian governments jointly determined that the proposed Olympic Dam expansion must be formally assessed through an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The expansion requires Australian and South Australian Government approval before it proceeds.
The current study work includes:
- All aspects of mine development such as exploration and planning for open pit mine operations.
- Finalising ore processing techniques and equipment to achieve world’s best technology, applied at the largest scale.
- Determining infrastructure requirements for the supply of energy, water, accommodation and transport.
- Ensuring the project's long-term sustainability by assessing social, environmental and economic aspects for BHP Billiton and South Australia.
- Developing a risk management strategy for the proposed expansion to cover all aspects of health, safety, environment and community.
BHP Billiton has established an Olympic Dam Expansion project team to undertake the study work. At the same time, consultants ARUP and HLA are jointly preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the proposed expansion.
During the selection phase BHP Billiton is also examining various infrastructure development options. An infrastructure team comprising engineering, design and planning specialists has been established to evaluate a range of development options including:
- Establishing infrastructure necessary to support the mining and processing operations includes evaluation of the following options:
- Constructing an additional 270 kilometre electricity transmission line from Port Augusta to Olympic Dam.
- Building a desalination plant at Point Lowly on South Australia’s Spencer Gulf and an associated 320 kilometre pipeline to supply water to Olympic Dam.
- Expanding the Roxby Downs township and relocating the Olympic Dam construction village to accommodate additional workers and their families.
- Decommissioning the existing Roxby Downs airport and building a new and larger airport.
- Building a spur line from Pimba to Olympic Dam to connect the operation to the national rail network.
ODX Timeline Targets
The Olympic Dam Expansion project is split into five key stages.
Stage 1: Concept - Understanding the potential and the possibility
Stage 2: Selection - Rigorously examine development alternatives and analytically select a preferred development plan
Stage 3: Definition - Refine and optimise the single go-forward case
Stage 4: Execution - Construct and commission
Stage 5: Operation - Ramp-up to full scale production
Once the selection study and EIS are complete and the EIS is approved by the South Australian and Australian governments, the Board of BHP Billiton will review the findings and determine whether to proceed to the next stages of project. These include the definition study, mine pre-strip and the final execution phase of the project.
Also see: A History of Success