Rum Jungle, Northern Territory

Last updated

Rum Jungle
Northern Territory
Australia Northern Territory location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Rum Jungle
Location in Northern Territory
Coordinates 12°59′39.8″S131°01′22.7″E / 12.994389°S 131.022972°E / -12.994389; 131.022972
Population84 (2016 census) [1]
Postcode(s) 0845
LGA(s) Coomalie Shire
Territory electorate(s) Daly
Federal division(s) Lingiari
Rum Jungle
Browns Oxide project.jpg
Browns Oxide Project entry gate
Location
Australia location map.svg
Schlaegel und Eisen nach DIN 21800.svg
Rum Jungle
Location in Australia
Location Batchelor
Territory Northern Territory
CountryAustralia
Coordinates 12°59′S131°01′E / 12.983°S 131.017°E / -12.983; 131.017
Production
Products Uranium
History
Discovered1949
Opened1950
Closed1971
Location of key Northern Territory uranium mines USGS Map of Northern Territory Uranium Mines.png
Location of key Northern Territory uranium mines
Water scene on Poett's old coffee plantation, Rum Jungle, Northern Territory Water scene on Poett's old coffee plantation, Rum Jungle, Northern Territory.jpeg
Water scene on Poett's old coffee plantation, Rum Jungle, Northern Territory
Malachite specimen from Rum Jungle, 10.5 x 6.5 x 3.2 cm Malachite-es6c.jpg
Malachite specimen from Rum Jungle, 10.5 × 6.5 × 3.2 cm

Rum Jungle is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about 105 kilometres south of Darwin on the East Branch of the Finniss River. It is the site of a uranium deposit, found in 1949, which has been mined. [2]

Contents

The area derives its name from an incident when a thief stole 750 ounces of gold from miners after getting them drunk with rum. [3]

Original uranium mine

George Goyder noted an unidentified copper-like green ore in 1869 at "Giants Reef", which was later "rediscovered" and identified to be torbernite. [4]

In 1949, John Michael "Jack" White discovered torbernite in old nearby copper shafts. [5]

In 1952 the Australian Government funded the setting up of a mine and treatment plant to provide uranium oxide concentrate to the UK-US Combined Development Agency under a contract which ran from 1953 to 1962. Rum Jungle was then the largest construction in the Northern Territory. The Government, through the Australian Atomic Energy Commission, was responsible for the mine, although management of it was on a contract basis by Territory Enterprises Pty Limited, a subsidiary of the Rio Tinto Group. A town called Batchelor was built 8 km south of the mine to accommodate the mining personnel. The project was officially opened in September 1954. [6]

Pollution and cleanup

The Rum Jungle mine closed in April 1971 [7] and the 200-hectare (490-acre) site was abandoned. [8] The Federal Government (which controlled the mine through its agency the Australian Atomic Energy Commission (AAEC), now known as Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)) decided not to rehabilitate the mine site [ why? ]. The mining company Conzinc (now part of the Rio Tinto Group, which owns Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), operators of the Ranger Uranium Mine in Kakadu National Park) have consistently denied any responsibility for rehabilitation. This led to the mine becoming known as one of Australia's most polluted environments [6] due to the oxidation of sulphides and the release of acid and metals into the East Branch of the Finniss River. The 1500 mm annual rainfall, along with the pyritic mineralisation in the area, created ideal conditions for such oxidation.

An initial attempt to clean up Rum Jungle was made in 1977, which led to the setting up of a working group to examine more comprehensive rehabilitation. A $16.2 million Commonwealth-funded program got under way in 1983 to remove heavy metals and neutralise the tailings.

One of the principal problems associated with rehabilitating the Rum Jungle Creek South (RJCS) open cut was that the area was converted to a lake after mining ceased, and as the only water body in the Darwin region not infested with crocodiles, the site quickly became very popular with locals and Darwin residents as a recreation reserve including activities such as swimming, canoeing and scuba diving. [9] [10] [11] After mining, the area suffered elevated gamma radiation, alpha-radioactive dust, and significant radon daughter concentrations in air. These levels were so high that in the late 1980s it was decided that something had to be done [ by whom? ]. Radiation protection standards were being revised, so that the levels of pollution would now be officially recognised as unsafe for human health. As a result, a supplementary $1.8 million program to improve Rum Jungle Creek South waste dumps was undertaken in 1990.

One of the main environmental impacts of uranium mining is the creation of large volumes of radioactive mine waste (tailings) which are left behind on the site. The major radioactive component of these tailings is uranium-238, which makes up over 99% of what is naturally occurring uranium, and is not very radioactive. While figures concerning the half-life of an isotope are often presented as meaning the element is more dangerous, in the case of Uranium-238 being 4.47 billion years, the opposite is in fact true: half-life is the time in which half of a collection of an element will decay, and produce a radioactive particle, ergo, the longer the half-life, the less radioactive the element. In 2003, a government survey of the tailings piles at Rum Jungle found that capping which was supposed to help contain this radioactive waste for at least 100 years, had failed in less than 20 years. [12] The Territory and Federal Governments continue to argue over responsibility for funding rehabilitation on the polluted East Finniss River [13] Contamination of local groundwater has yet to be addressed. [14]

Brown's Oxide Project

In December 2001, Compass Resources lodged a Referral under the EPBC Act with Environment Australia (which is now DEH). That document referred to the proposed development of a large-scale mining project, the Browns Polymetallic Project, that would produce lead, cobalt, copper, nickel and silver over a project life of at least 15 years. As indicated in the 2001 Referral, Compass considered that the Browns Polymetallic Project was a ‘nuclear action’ under the EPBC Act, on the basis that the project could be considered to include rehabilitating a facility or area in which mining or milling of uranium ore has previously been undertaken. [15]

Compass suspended its work on the polymetallic proposal in 2002 when low metal prices caused the withdrawal of Compass’s financial partner (Doe Run). [16]

In 2005, Compass lodged an application for a much smaller project focussing on cobalt, nickel and copper mining. Because this project, the Brown's Oxide Project is much smaller than the polymetallic project proposed previously, Compass is in a position to progress it on its own.

The Northern Territory Government has completed assessing this project and Ms Marion Scrymgour MLA, Minister for Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage in the Northern Territory Government has advised that she has concluded that the Browns Oxide Project as proposed in the Public Environmental Report and subsequent documents "can be managed without unacceptable environmental impacts"

The Hon. Kon Vatskalis MLA Minister for Mines and Energy announced this approval as "good news" during question time in the Northern Territory Parliament on 4 May 2006. To ensure the environment is managed properly, this approval and its recommendations is subject to final review by the Commonwealth Government under a bilateral agreement between the Northern Territory Government and the Commonwealth of Australia. [17]

Pending final Commonwealth approval, the project is set to be in production by early 2007.

While the project is located near the old Rum Jungle mine, the Browns Oxide Project is targeting copper cobalt and nickel—not uranium. Nonetheless, Compass acknowledges that at some future point it would be interested in mining uranium at the nearby Rum Jungle site (over which it holds a lease). Any proposal to mine uranium would require a totally new application and environmental assessment as a separate project.

Geology

The major uranium prospects of Brown's, Intermediate, White's, White's extension and Dyson's occur northwest of, but parallel to, the northeast trending Giant's Reef Fault. Ore deposits occur in Precambrian carbonaceous slate and graphitic schist of the Lower Proterozoic Brooks Creek Group. Structurally, the deposits are within a sheared anticline on the southern flank of a granite dome. Primary minerals include chalcopyrite, bornite, bournonite, pyrite, and uraninite. Oxidized ores include azurite, malachite, pseudomalachite, iron oxides, torbernite, saleeite, and phosphuranylite. [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

Litchfield National Park, covering approximately 1500 km2, is near the township of Batchelor, 100 km south-west of Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Each year the park attracts over 260,000 visitors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranger Uranium Mine</span> Uranium mine in the Northern Territory of Australia

The Ranger Uranium Mine was a uranium mine in the Northern Territory of Australia. The site is surrounded by, but separate from Kakadu National Park, 230 km east of Darwin. The orebody was discovered in late 1969, and the mine commenced operation in 1980, reaching full production of uranium oxide in 1981 and ceased stockpile processing on 8 January 2021. Mining activities had ceased in 2012. It is owned and operated by Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), a public company 86.33% owned by Rio Tinto Group, the remainder held by the public. Uranium mined at Ranger was sold for use in nuclear power stations in Japan, South Korea, China, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the United States.

Compass Resources NL is an Australian mining and mineral exploration company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and currently in voluntary administration since 29 January 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uranium mining in Kakadu National Park</span>

Kakadu National Park, located in the Northern Territory of Australia, possesses within its boundaries a number of large uranium deposits. The uranium is legally owned by the Australian Government, and is sold internationally, having a large effect on the Australian economy. The mining has been controversial, due to the widespread publicity regarding the potential danger of nuclear power and uranium mining, as well as because of objections by some Indigenous groups. This controversy is significant because it involves a number of important political issues in Australia: Native Title, the environment, and Federal-State-Territory relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uranium mining in Colorado</span>

Uranium mining in Colorado, United States, goes back to 1872, when pitchblende ore was taken from gold mines near Central City, Colorado. The Colorado uranium industry has seen booms and busts, but continues to this day. Not counting byproduct uranium from phosphate, Colorado is considered to have the third largest uranium reserves of any US state, behind Wyoming and New Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batchelor, Northern Territory</span> Town in the Northern Territory, Australia

Batchelor is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. The town is the current seat and largest town of the Coomalie Shire local government area. It is located 98 kilometres (61 mi) south of the territory capital, Darwin. A number of residents commute to Darwin and its suburbs for work. In the 2016 census, Batchelor recorded a population of 507 people, with 36% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Browns polymetallic ore deposit</span>

The Browns polymetallic ore deposit is a large ore deposit located at Mount Fitch, near Batchelor, 64 kilometres south of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

Mount Fitch is a former uranium mining site located in the Northern Territory of Australia 56 kilometres SSE from the centre of Darwin and 13.4 kilometres NE from the town of Batchelor in the locality of Rum Jungle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Gee</span>

Mount Gee is located in the northern Flinders Ranges within the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, and is part of the Mount Painter inlier. It was named after a mining warden, Lionel Gee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-nuclear movement in Australia</span>

Nuclear weapons testing, uranium mining and export, and nuclear power have often been the subject of public debate in Australia, and the anti-nuclear movement in Australia has a long history. Its origins date back to the 1972–1973 debate over French nuclear testing in the Pacific and the 1976–1977 debate about uranium mining in Australia.

Uranium mining in New Mexico was a significant industry from the early 1950s until the early 1980s. Although New Mexico has the second largest identified uranium ore reserves of any state in the United States, no uranium ore has been mined in New Mexico since 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uranium mining in Australia</span> Mining in Australia

Radioactive ores were first extracted in South Australia at Radium Hill in 1906 and Mount Painter in 1911. 2,000 tons of ore were treated to recover radium for medical use. Several hundred kilograms of uranium were also produced for use in ceramic glazes.

Four Mile is Australia's fifth uranium mine. It is sited in the Frome Basin in far north of the state of South Australia, around 600 kilometres (370 mi) north of the state capital, Adelaide. It is 10 kilometres (6 mi) from the existing Beverley uranium mine, where its uranium oxide product is produced. Construction of the mine commenced in late 2013 and the mine was officially opened in June 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radium Hill</span> Former mine in South Australia

Radium Hill is a former minesite in South Australia which operated from 1906 until 1961. It was Australia's first uranium mine, years before the country's next major mines at Rum Jungle in the Northern Territory (opened in 1950), and the Mary Kathleen mine in Queensland (1958). The associated settlement which once housed up to 1,100 people is now a ghost town, largely abandoned and demolished. The former townsite and cemetery were provisionally listed on the South Australian Heritage Register on 24 August 2016. During its main period of production between 1954 and 1961 the mine produced nearly 1 million tonnes of davidite-bearing ore to produce about 860 tons of U3O8.

Lake Way is a dry saline lake located in the Mid West region of Western Australia, approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Wiluna. It also gives its name to a nearby cattle station, the Lake Way Station.

The Yeelirrie uranium project is a uranium deposit located approximately 70 km southwest of Wiluna, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. The name Yeelirrie is taken from the local sheep station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olympic Dam mine</span> Poly-metallic underground mine in South Australia

The Olympic Dam mine is a large poly-metallic underground mine located in South Australia, 550 km (340 mi) NNW of Adelaide. It is the fourth largest copper deposit and the largest known single deposit of uranium in the world. Copper is the largest contributor to total revenue, accounting for approximately 70% of the mine's revenue, with the remaining 25% from uranium, and around 5% from silver and gold. BHP has owned and operated the mine since 2005. The mine was previously owned by Western Mining Corporation.

Ranger Uranium Environmental Inquiry (RUEI) (also known as the Fox Report) was a committee established by the Whitlam government in Australia, which sought to explore the environmental concerns surrounding uranium mining. The Inquiry was established in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finniss River (Northern Territory)</span> River in Northern Territory, Australia

The Finniss River is a river south of Darwin, running west from the flank of Mount Minza, passing north of Litchfield National Park and flowing into the sea at Fog Bay. The East Branch of the Finniss was heavily polluted during the 1970s due to uranium mining at Rum Jungle mine about 105 km south of Darwin. The Finniss River Land Claim was presented to Judge John Toohey in 1981 but the former Rum Jungle mine site, contained within Area 4 of the Finniss River Land Claim (1981) was excluded from the grant to the Finniss River Land Trust due to the concerns of the Kungarakany and Warai peoples who are joint traditional Aboriginal owners of that area.

References

  1. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Rum Jungle (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2017. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  2. ↑ "Rum Jungle". Department of Mines and Energy. Northern Territory Government. 2013. Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Beatty, Bill (2 August 1947). "There's drama & tragedy in place names". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 8. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  4. ↑ Annabell, Ross (1971). The Uranium Hunters. Adelaide: Rigby Limited. pp. 23–27. ISBN   0727002627.
  5. ↑ Zoellner, Tom (2009). Uranium. New York: Penguin Books. p. 186. ISBN   9780143116721.
  6. 1 2 Mudd, G.M.; Patterson, J. (2010). "Continuing Pollution From the Rum Jungle U-Cu Project: A Critical Evaluation of Environmental Monitoring and Rehabilitation". Environmental Pollution. 158 (5): 1252–1260. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2010.01.017. PMID   20176422.
  7. ↑ Simper, Errol (2 October 1971). "A mining village refuses to die". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  8. ↑ "NT wants $16m for Rum Jungle clean-up". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 10 July 1982. p. 3. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  9. ↑ "Rum Jungle Lake at Batchelor, Northern Territory, Australia". Tourism NT. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  10. ↑ "Canoeing & Kayaking". Batchelor Outdoor Education Unit. Archived from the original on 2 August 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  11. ↑ "Rum Jungle Lake". Cave Divers Association of Australia. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  12. ↑ Taylor,G. Spain,A. Nefiodovas,A. Timms,G. Kuznetsov,V. Bennett, J. (2003). "Determination of the reasons for deterioration of the Rum Jungle waste rock cover" (PDF). Australian Centre for Mining Environmental Research. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment (2002). "Rum Jungle Monitoring Report 1993-1998" (PDF). Technical Report 2002/1. pp. 176–9.[ permanent dead link ]
  14. ↑ Mudd, G. (2004). "The continuing Rum Jungle dilemma : accounting for ground-surface water interactions in AMD polluted systems" (PDF). Uranium Mining and Hydrogeology Conference, UMH IV. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2005.
  15. ↑ Brown's Oxide - Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts Archived 2006-09-06 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). aspect.comsec.com.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 30 June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  18. ↑ Heinrich, E. Wm. (1958). Mineralogy and Geology of Radioactive Raw Materials. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. pp. 317–319.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.