Four mile uranium

The Four Mile uranium mine is located in the North Frome Basin, part of the Flinders Ranges Region of South Australia, 550 kilometres north of Adelaide. The mine, that is operated by Quasar Resources, is a joint venture operation between Quasar and Alliance Resources. Quasar Resources Pty Ltd is an exploration company based in Adelaide. It is an affiliate of Heathgate Resources, the company that both owns and operates the Beverley Uranium mine located in the northern Flinders Ranges eight kilometres from the Four Mile mine. Heathgate Resources is, in turn, a subsidiary of United States based, General Atomics.

Uranium to be Produced at the Four Mile Mine From April 2014
The Four Mile uranium mine is due to start production of uranium in April 2014. The uranium is to be mined as an in-situ mining operation with uranium capture taking place at Heathgate's Pannikan satelite facility with precipitation, drying and packaging taking place at Heathgate's Beverley uranium mine's processing plant. The in-situ leach method of mining makes use of a weak acid solution that is pumped underground before being extracted containing uranium. Sales of uranium oxide produced at the Four Mile mine is expected to take place in July 2014.
Four Mile Uranium Deposit Discovered in 2005 Quasar Resources discovered the Four Mile uranium mineralisation in April 2005 and since that time has been actively pursuing the extent of the resource. The Four Mile uranium deposit consists of two sandstone-hosted zones, the Four Mile East and the Four Mile West, Tertiary age sediments.Both occur to depths ranging from 220 to 140 metres.

The Four Mile Uranium Discovery was the First in Australia for 25 Years
The Four Mile uranium mine has been Quasar Resources' flagship project since it made application for a mining lease covering the site in May 2008. It is the biggest uranium discovery made in Australia for the last 25 years and has sufficient resources to produce uranium for at least the next 15 years, although it will only remain operational for ten months initially as a proof of concept. This means that while the Four Mile uranium resource remains at 71 million pounds, the first stage of its development will only mine a little over two million pounds.

The development of the Four Mile uranium mine is a significant achievement for the Australian uranium industry, as it had been under a cloud since the occurrence of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear incident in Japan. This incident saw the shutdown of nuclear reactors across the world and slowed enthusiasm for the development of nuclear power as an alternative to high polluting coal. In more recent times investors are now looking to uranium as an alternative source of energy. Japan itself has announced the re-starting of several of its reactors during 2014. Both China and India are continuing with the construction of nuclear reactors in their countries in the near future. The World Nuclear Association have reported that there are currently 70 new reactors under construction around the world and a further 173 at the planning stage with a further 310 being proposed. There are 434 nuclear reactors already operational around the world.
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