| Date | Event |
| 2001 |
Incident : Summary - Spills totalled 4,216,000 litres, no location or other data provided (except detail below).
Incident : Undated - Total of NINE Process spills (including December incident below), no location or other data provided.
Incident : Undated - TWO 'Pond' spills, no location or other data provided.
Incident : Undated - 'Undefined' spill at the Port Adelaide sulfur yard.
Incident : Undated - 'Undefined' Diesel 'leak' from a bulk storage tank at Olympic Dam, no location or other data provided.
Incident : 'Late' - ~30,000 litres of Diesel spill at a Pump Station for Borefield B, no data provided.
Incident : December 12 - 427,000 litres of Process leaching slurry containing 0.1% U (1,000,000 ppb) accidentally spilled from a holding tank. This represents a mass of uranium of about 0.43 t of uranium.
Incident : October 21 - Large scale FIRE in the Solvent Extraction section of the Olympic Dam processing complex. Exact details still remain unclear, though it did apparently involve the release of radionuclides into the environment (mainly the atmosphere for wide dispersion).
Incident : May - ~40,000 litres of Diesel spilt from underground fuel lines at Pump Station 1, Borefield A, and spread some 200 m from the source. The lines had corroded, since they were more than 15 years old. The residual contamination left in groundwater as there was perceived to be "no significant environmental risk" (pp 17).
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| 2000 |
Incident : 106 spills totalled 2,021,000 litres, no location or other data provided..
Incident : January 20 - Three workers were in the underground mine when explosives detonated. Although not injured, it represents a major breach in blasting safety procedures.
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| 1999 |
Incident : December 23 - Part of the solvent extraction plant goes up in flames - this is where the copper and uranium is extracted. Allegedly, the fire was contained outside the uranium section with no contact with radioactive materials, although the detail is unclear. The fire could be seen as far as 25 km away at nearby Andamooka.
Incident : December - Two workers seriously injured in a sulphuric acid spill.
Incident : October 12 - Radioactive scrap metal detected at WMC's scrap metal merchant in Adelaide. Load returned to Roxby.
Incident : March 31 - Copper smelter explodes late at night, causing extensive damage. No workers injured.
March 26 - Court case brought against Hugh Morgan (chief of WMC) and federal ministers Alexander Downer and Robert Hill, alleging genocide against the Arabunna people by the Roxby mine.
March 26 - Official opening of the expansion, specially by Prime Minister John Howard.
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| 1998 |
Incident : March 6 - Man is crushed to death in the underground mine at Roxby.
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| 1997 |
December 11 - A further Amendment to the Roxby Indenture is passed through the SA parliament giving WMC responsibility for Aboriginal Heritage over 1.5 million hectares, well beyond the mine lease.
December 3 - Senator Robert Hill, Federal Environment Minister, approves expansion to 200,000 tpa of copper and 4,000 tpa of uranium, but advises more environmental studies will be required for the full proposed expansion.
Incident : November 30 - Union strike over the leak and spillage of sulphuric acid. 70 employees walked off the job after 23 workers had been overcome by fumes in the smelter area.
November 6 - Supplement to the EIS released by WMC (their comments and responses to public comments on the Draft Expansion EIS).
October 2 - ROXSTOP finishes with immense success.
September 22 - ROXSTOP Desert Action and Music Festival begins at Roxby Downs, being the first major protest at the mine for over a decade. It includes protests at the minesite, blockading the highway of the delivery of equipment for the expansion, a public meeting on worker's health, a music festival in the Mound Springs area, tours and witnessing of the damage to the Mound Springs by the two Borefields, and people having a ball doing it!
May 12 - Draft Expansion Project EIS released for public comment.
(Early) EIS for the proposed expansion of mining at Olympic Dam/Roxby Downs is announced.
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| 1996 |
December - Amendments to the Indenture are made giving legal rights to WMC for extraction of up to 42 Ml/d of fossil Great Artesian Basin water every day for the next 40 years. This allows an increase in production to 350,000 tpa of copper and 7,000 tpa of uranium. This amendment was made without public scutiny and commits SA to at least another 100 years of uranium mining at Roxby.
November - Borefield B, with one operational bore, is commissioned and bought into production.
September - Work begins on the construction of Borefield B, deeper into the Great Artesian Basin in order to supply up to 42 million litres per day (Ml/d).
July 15 - WMC Board commits to the major expansion of Roxby Downs, with "detailed design" to 200,000 tonnes per year copper level, and "conceptual design" to 350,000 tonnes per year of copper.
April 24 - The SA Government Inquiry into the Olympic Dam Tailings Leakage is released, with damning indictments of WMC and yet still endorses their environmental management.
January - John Faulkener, Federal Environment Minister, confirms the approval for expansion to 150,000 tpa and a special water licence is granted to WMC by the SA government.
WMC announce plans for expansion to 350,000 tpa of copper and 7,000 tpa of uranium.
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| 1995 | WMC announces expansion to 150,000 tpa of copper and the development of Borefield B. Mines and Energy SA (MESA) modelling projections of the 50 year drawdown and Great Artesian Basin recovery rates are not made public.
Roxby Downs completes second minor expansion to a production capacity of copper and uranium of about 85,000 and 1,600 tonnes per year, respectively. |
| 1994 |
Incident : February 14 - WMC reveals that up to 5 million cubic metres of liquid has leaked from its tailings retention system at Roxby Downs. According to WMC the leak had been happening for at least two years but only became fully understood in January 1994. |
| 1993 |
September - Memo from the Department of Mines and Energy (MESA) warns of a "potential problem" with water seepage and uranium tailings at the site.
May - WMC and the Department's of Mines and Energy and the Environment acknowledge that the tailings dam has been leaking.
Minister for Mineral Resources approves increase in drawdown from 2 to 4 metres at the boundary of Borefield A. Approval restricted to 4 metres to try and protect the Mound Springs.
April - WMC announce plans for a further expansion ('Optimisation 2').
March 31 - WMC formally acquire 100% ownership of Olympic Dam. The cost to WMC was US$419 million
March - British Petroleum (BP) withdraw from the Olympic Dam Joint Venture and sell their share to WMC.
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| 1992 |
Incident : Worker dies at Roxby as the explosives he was setting underground prematurely detonate.
Roxby Downs completes minor expansion to a production capacity of copper and uranium of about 66,000 and 1,200 tonnes per year, respectively. |
| 1991 |
Approval given by the South Australian Government to expand Borefield A.
February 19 - WMC/BP announce plans for a minor expansion ('Optimisation 1').
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| 1990 | Anti-uranium demonstrators block the path 3 shipments of Roxby output at Port Adelaide, a total of 24 uranium-carrying trucks. The uranium was sold to Sweden, Britain and the USA. |
| 1989 | Incident : November 5 - A total of 320 mm of rainfall at Olympic Dam led to major flooding. Increased groundwater levels were noted, as were the potential for flood waters to enter limestone cavities. |
| 1988 |
Incident : November 5 - Major accident at the copper smelter during the official opening ceremony when a loud bang followed by a massive flame burst occurs.
November 5 - Official opening of the Olympic Dam Project, including 'special guest' Norman Foster (former Labour politician).
June 22 - First ore milled in the Olympic Dam metallurgical complex, production capacity of copper and uranium is about 45,000 and 900 tonnes per year, respectively.
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| 1987 |
Mid - Surface decline and entrance tunnel completed.
February - Operation of Borefield A commences.
Incident : February - Major failure at the desalination plant when 70 ML in about 1 hour is lost through a massive limestone cavity beneath the surface of the storage pond. The estimated flow rate of the leak was up to 20,000 litres per second. The difficulty of predicting and locating potential limestone cavities was recognised.
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| 1986 |
December 8 - Construction and operation of Borefield A commences.
May 15 - Governor of South Australia declares the municipality of Roxby Downs, to have effect from May 26. The area covers 110.55 km2.
May 9 - Special Mining Lease No. 1 granted to the Olympic Dam Project, covering 177.88 km2.
March 17 - Construction commences of the surface decline and entrance tunnel.
March 5 - Construction commences of the Olympic Dam Project.
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| 1985 |
December 31 - Surface drilling of over 700 holes totalliong 234 km of core and 218 of open hole drilling and about 900 underground drill holes totalling 90 km. The Whenan Shaft of 500 m also includes nearly 10 km of drives and underground development work. Total expenditure $185.34 million.
December 8 - WMC & BP announce decision to proceed with construction of a smaller operation, starting production at about 45,000 t of copper, 1,200 t U3O8 and associated gold and silver per year.
Mid - Further 8 week campaign of ore processing at the Pilot Plant.
June 11 - The Olympic Dam Project announced as commercially viable by WMC/BP.
April - 'Final Feasibility Study' commenced for a major mining and milling project at Olympic Dam.
March - First detailed 'Technical Study' completed for a development options at Olympic Dam.
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| 1984 |
December 4 - Special Water Licence issued to WMC/BP to allow them to draw water from the Great Artesian Basin.
November 15 - Pilot plant completes operation, apparently treating about 19,870 t of ore. About 9 t of uranium oxide (U3O8) is produced.
August/September - Blockades continue at the minesite.
Mid - The SIROSmelt copper smelter section of the Pilot Plant begins operation, capacity of 0.3 tonnes per hour.
March - Copper concentrator/uranium extraction section of the Pilot Plant begins operation, capable of treating about 5 tonnes per hour.
January 7 - Major floods of Lake Eyre South from 300 mm of rainfall, including flooding at Olympic Dam due to about 75 mm of rainfall.
January - Ore crushing section of Pilot Plant begins operation, at a capacity of 45 tonnes per hour.
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| 1983 |
November 31 - Kokatha Aboriginal people complete the blockade of the Canegrass Swamp area after WMC/BP agree to alter the proposed road route from Olympic Dam to the GAB borefields further to the west.
November - Official announcement of Olympic Dam reserves by WMC/BP, stating a 'proved and probable' ore reserve of 450 million tonnes containing 2.5% Cu, 0.08% U3O8, 0.6 g/t gold and 6.0 g/t silver.
September 17 - The Commonwealth Government approves the EIS for the copper-uranium project.
August/September - Anti-nuclear blockades start at the minesite.
August 10 - The Commonwealth government approves the EIS and Roxby copper-uranium project.
Incident : August 5 - Kokatha Aboriginal people begin a blockade of the Canegrass Swamp area along the proposed road from Olympic Dam to the GAB borefields.
August - First bore (GAB6) near the Mound Springs of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) begins supplying water to Olympic Dam at about 1.3 million litres per day (ML/day). A limestone 'plughole' or cavern is noted close to the bore whereby discharged water would vanish quickly into the ground.
July - Pilot Plant construction commences.
June 28 - The South Australian government approves the EIS and Roxby copper-uranium project.
June 12 - Construction of the Borefield Road from Olympic Dam to Lake Eyre commences.
April 11 - The Supplementary EIS for Roxby copper-uranium project is released by WMC/BP.
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| 1982 |
October 19 - Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is released.
September - Whenan Shaft completed to a depth of 481 m, including a 5 tonnes per hour haulage capacity.
July - Official announcement of Olympic Dam reserves by WMC/BP, stating an indicated ore reserve of about 2,000 million tonnes containing 1.6% Cu, 0.06% U3O8, 0.6 g/t gold and 3.5 g/t silver.
June 21 - The Indenture Agreement is ratified by the SA Parliament through the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratifcation) Act 1982. In order to get the Act through the Upper House, Norman Foster from the Labour opposition crosses the floor to vote with the Liberal government.
March 4 - Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratifcation) Bill is introduced into state Parliament.
March 3 - The Indenture Agreement (ie - the fundamental legal document underpinning the development of the operations at Olympic Dam and their associated infrastructure) is signed between the SA government and the joint venturers (WMC and BP). The Agreement - including 57 clauses totalling 320 typed pages - gives the Joint Venturers and the SA Government :
- the right to withhold information from the public unless both parties agree to release it;
- it underlines the State's obligation to facilitate WMC with access to Great Artesian Basin water (Borefield A) free of charge;
- and overrides a range of existing Aboriginal heritage and environmental legislation.
January - Whenan Shaft construction commenced.
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| 1980 |
May - Decision to sink an exploration shaft for limited underground development at Olympic Dam, mainly to produce bulk ore samples for metallurgical testing and confirmation of the geology and mineralisation. The shaft is called 'Whenan Shaft', after the driller of the first bore RD1.
January 2 - Intensive drilling campaign begins.
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| 1979 | (Late) Work begins on site as a joint venture between Western Mining Corporation (WMC) and British Petroleum (BP).
Early October - Lobbying by WMC convinces the South Australian and Federal Governments to alter the boundaries of the 'Woomera Prohibited Area', on which the Olympic Dam deposit was located, thereby allowing WMC to choose mine, mill, camp and town sites closer to the deposit.
July 27 - Announcement of a formal Joint Venture between BP (49%) and WMC (51%) to develop Roxby. The BP ownership was divided between BP Australia Ltd (36.5%) and BP Petroleum Development Ltd (12.5%), the Australian and UK companies of the BP Group.
January - A privately-placed advertisement within the Adelaide newspaper "The Advertiser" states that ore reserves indicated at Olympic Dam were 750 million tonnes containing 1.5% Cu and 0.06% U3O8.
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| 1977 | March - First study of potential mining and milling operation at 'Olympic Dam'. |
| 1976 | November 25 - Tenth borehole at Roxby (RD10) intersects 170 metres of 2.12% copper mineralisation and 0.058% U3O8, with the massive potential of the find now becoming apparent. |
| 1975 |
July 30 - Drill Hole RD1 completed, intersecting 38 metres of 1.02% copper mineralisation, including 0.29 g/t gold and 3.7 g/t silver - showing a new style of orebody. Total bore depth was 411.1 m.
July 4 - First intersection of mineralisation in RD1.
June 12 - Drill Hole RD1 commenced using water from the stock watering dam known as 'Olympic Dam'.
May 2 - 'Andamooka' Exploration lease granted.
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