Chemical mining back on the agenda for Olympic Dam

Five years ago, BHP Billiton had a clear view about the viability of using heap leaching to extract copper and other precious minerals from the extraordinary ores of Olympic Dam.

Peter Ker

Updated Aug 2, 2014 – 5.41am, first published at 4.44am

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Five years ago, BHP Billiton had a clear view about the viability of using heap leaching to extract copper and other precious minerals from the extraordinary ores of Olympic Dam.

“At this early stage, recoveries of copper and uranium from heap leaching appear too low," BHP said in a 2009 environmental impact study.