Radium Hill
Encyclopedia
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 largely demolished and abandoned and is a ghost town
. 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.
. Smith mistook the dark coloured ore he found for tin oxide
or wolfram (tungsten)
. His samples were sent to Adelaide University where young Sydney
geologist
and future Antarctic
explorer, Douglas Mawson
found the ore to contain radium
and uranium
. It also had traces of ilmenite
, rutile
, magnetite
, hematite
, pyrite
, chalcopyrite
intergrown with quartz
and biotite
, chromium
, vanadium
, and molybdenum
.
Mawson named the ore davidite
after geologist and Antarctic explorer, Sir Edgeworth David
. The mine was initially called "Smith's Carnotite
Mine" (a similar uranium-bearing mineral) and in September 1906 Mawson proposed the name "Radium Hill". Smith worked the mine for the next two years before allowing the lease to lapse. Adjoining leases stretched for 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) along the lode
, with one being half-owned by Mawson.
The Radium Hill Company took over the lease in 1908 and more shafts were sunk.
Ore concentrate was transferred to refineries in New South Wales
and Victoria
. Radium had reached a price of ₤13,000 per gram in 1911,Radium was discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie
and she extracted the first pure metallic form of the element in 1908. and in the same year, at a cost of ₤15,000 the company built a refinery at Hunter's Hill
in New South Wales
to produce radium compounds. 350 milligrams of radium bromide
(RaBr2) and 150 kg of uranium
were produced. The radium bromide was used for research in the emerging fields of radiation
and radioactivity and some of the Hunter's Hill radium was sold to pioneering nuclear researchers Ernest Rutherford
and Marie Curie
.
Mining ceased in 1914 and the Hunters Hill refinery closed the following year.
The mine's second phase of operations started in 1923 when it was operated by the Radium and Rare Earth Treatment Company N.L. which continued operations there until 1931. The company also built a treatment plant in 1923 at Dry Creek
near Adelaide to produce radium bromide for medical applications from the Radium Hill ore, however this proved to be uneconomic and both sites had ceased operations by 1932.
Activity recommenced after World War II
, with a Department of Mines geological survey in 1944 and exploration and drilling work done in 1946-1947. In March 1952 the Commonwealth and the South Australian governments
signed a cost plus
uranium
supply contract with the UK-USA Combined Development Agency
, initially for defence purposes, for delivery over seven years. A section of Maldorkey Station was annexed and proclaimed a "Uranium mining reserve" in 1954 and the mine was officially opened by the Governor General of Australia, Field Marshal Sir William Slim
on 10 November the same year.
The state government operated the mine and installed various infrastructure to support the operations. An 18 kilometres (11.2 mi) spur line connecting the site to the main Broken Hill railway line at Cutana Siding was built in 1954. An aerodrome
was constructed and roads improved in the same period. The town to house mine workers and their families was built also. This included 145 houses: in 1961 a population of 867 was recorded. Other town facilities included a hospital, school, government retail store, canteens, swimming pool, a bus service to Broken Hill and recreation and commercial facilities.
The main shaft of the mine was 420 metres (1,378 ft) deep with a 40 metres (131.2 ft) headframe
. Ore was crushed at a ball mill
and treated on site at a surface concentrate mill using a heavy media separation and flotation process. It was then rail-freighted to the purpose-built Port Pirie Uranium Treatment Complex which processed ore from Radium Hill and Myponga (Wild Dog Hill), south of Adelaide
. The Port Pirie complex was also operated by the state government.
The mine output was 970,000 tonnes of 0.09-0.13% ore and the ore concentrate produced a mix of about 150,000 tonnes of yellowcake
which was then processed at Port Pirie where it was subjected to hot acid leaching, producing about 860 tons of U3O8 worth more than ₤15 million. After seven years of operations, the contract was filled and the plant officially decommissioned on 21 December 1961.
s. Backfilling of old mine openings was also undertaken.
repository. Approximately 16 separate consignments of waste, including contaminated soil from Thebarton
in the Adelaide metropolitan area was deposited there. The last deposit was made in 1998.
A New South Wales
government study in 1979 found the incidence of cancer
-related deaths by former Radium Hill workers to be four times the national average. According to the report, 59% of underground miners who had worked there for a period of two years or more had died of cancer.
The site has been inactive since 1998. The Resources Division of Minerals and Energy at the Department of Primary Industry and Resources maintains management responsibility including a radiological watch on the site.
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
which operated from 1906 until 1961. It was Australia's first uranium mine
Uranium mining in Australia
Radioactive ores were first extracted at Radium Hill in 1906, and Mount Painter in South Australia in the 1930s, to recover radium for medical use. Several hundred kilograms of uranium were also produced....
, years before the country's next major mines at Rum Jungle
Rum Jungle, Northern Territory
The Rum Jungle uranium deposit in the Northern Territory, Australia was found in 1949. It is 65 kilometres south of Darwin on the East Finniss River.-Original uranium mine:...
in the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
(opened in 1950), and the Mary Kathleen mine
Mary Kathleen, Queensland
Mary Kathleen was a mining settlement in the northwestern part of Queensland, Australia. It is located in the Selwyn Range between Mount Isa and Cloncurry.Mary Kathleen was first settled during the 1860s.-Uranium mine:...
in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
(1958). The associated settlement which once housed up to 1,100 people is now largely demolished and abandoned and is a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
. During its main period of production between 1954 and 1961 the mine produced nearly 1 million tonnes of davidite-bearing ore
Davidite
Davidite is a rare earth oxide mineral with chemical end members La and Ce. It exists in two forms:*Davidite- 20O38 discovered at Radium Hill mine, South Australia in 1906 and named for Australian geologist Tenatt William Edgeworth David .*Davidite- 20O38 first described in 1960 from Vemork,...
to produce about 860 tons of U3O8.
History
The site was first pegged for mining in 1906 after prospector Arthur John Smith inadvertently discovered a radioactive material at a location approximately 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) East South East of OlaryOlary, South Australia
Olary is a settlement on the Barrier Highway in South Australia. It is situated near Olary Creek and is one of the easternmost settlements in South Australia....
. Smith mistook the dark coloured ore he found for tin oxide
Tin oxide
Tin oxide may refer to:* Tin oxide , SnO* Tin dioxide , SnO2...
or wolfram (tungsten)
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
. His samples were sent to Adelaide University where young Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
and future Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
explorer, Douglas Mawson
Douglas Mawson
Sir Douglas Mawson, OBE, FRS, FAA was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer and Academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, Mawson was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.-Early work:He was appointed geologist to an...
found the ore to contain radium
Radium
Radium is a chemical element with atomic number 88, represented by the symbol Ra. Radium is an almost pure-white alkaline earth metal, but it readily oxidizes on exposure to air, becoming black in color. All isotopes of radium are highly radioactive, with the most stable isotope being radium-226,...
and uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
. It also had traces of ilmenite
Ilmenite
Ilmenite is a weakly magnetic titanium-iron oxide mineral which is iron-black or steel-gray. It is a crystalline iron titanium oxide . It crystallizes in the trigonal system, and it has the same crystal structure as corundum and hematite....
, rutile
Rutile
Rutile is a mineral composed primarily of titanium dioxide, TiO2.Rutile is the most common natural form of TiO2. Two rarer polymorphs of TiO2 are known:...
, magnetite
Magnetite
Magnetite is a ferrimagnetic mineral with chemical formula Fe3O4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group. The chemical IUPAC name is iron oxide and the common chemical name is ferrous-ferric oxide. The formula for magnetite may also be written as FeO·Fe2O3, which is one part...
, hematite
Hematite
Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...
, pyrite
Pyrite
The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold...
, chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite is a copper iron sulfide mineral that crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has the chemical composition CuFeS2. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale. Its streak is diagnostic as green tinged black.On exposure to air, chalcopyrite...
intergrown with quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
and biotite
Biotite
Biotite is a common phyllosilicate mineral within the mica group, with the approximate chemical formula . More generally, it refers to the dark mica series, primarily a solid-solution series between the iron-endmember annite, and the magnesium-endmember phlogopite; more aluminous endmembers...
, chromium
Chromium
Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6. It is a steely-gray, lustrous, hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point. It is also odorless, tasteless, and malleable...
, vanadium
Vanadium
Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery gray, ductile and malleable transition metal. The formation of an oxide layer stabilizes the metal against oxidation. The element is found only in chemically combined form in nature...
, and molybdenum
Molybdenum
Molybdenum , is a Group 6 chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. The name is from Neo-Latin Molybdaenum, from Ancient Greek , meaning lead, itself proposed as a loanword from Anatolian Luvian and Lydian languages, since its ores were confused with lead ores...
.
Mawson named the ore davidite
Davidite
Davidite is a rare earth oxide mineral with chemical end members La and Ce. It exists in two forms:*Davidite- 20O38 discovered at Radium Hill mine, South Australia in 1906 and named for Australian geologist Tenatt William Edgeworth David .*Davidite- 20O38 first described in 1960 from Vemork,...
after geologist and Antarctic explorer, Sir Edgeworth David
Edgeworth David
Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David KBE, DSO, FRS, was a Welsh Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer. A household name in his lifetime, David's most significant achievements were discovering the major Hunter Valley coalfield in New South Wales and leading the first expedition to reach the...
. The mine was initially called "Smith's Carnotite
Carnotite
Carnotite is a potassium uranium vanadate radioactive mineral with chemical formula: K222·3H2O. The water content can vary and small amounts of calcium, barium, magnesium, iron, and sodium are often present.-Occurrence:...
Mine" (a similar uranium-bearing mineral) and in September 1906 Mawson proposed the name "Radium Hill". Smith worked the mine for the next two years before allowing the lease to lapse. Adjoining leases stretched for 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) along the lode
Lode
In geology, a lode is a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fissure in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock....
, with one being half-owned by Mawson.
The Radium Hill Company took over the lease in 1908 and more shafts were sunk.
Ore concentrate was transferred to refineries in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. Radium had reached a price of ₤13,000 per gram in 1911,Radium was discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie
Marie Curie
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
and she extracted the first pure metallic form of the element in 1908. and in the same year, at a cost of ₤15,000 the company built a refinery at Hunter's Hill
Hunter's Hill, New South Wales
Hunters Hill is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Hunters Hill is located 9 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the Municipality of Hunter's Hill.Hunters Hill is situated on a...
in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
to produce radium compounds. 350 milligrams of radium bromide
Radium bromide
Radium bromide is the bromide salt of radium, with the formula RaBr2. It is produced during the separation of radium from uranium ore. This inorganic compound was discovered by Pierre and Marie Curie in 1898, which sparked a huge interest in radiochemistry, especially radiotherapy...
(RaBr2) and 150 kg of uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
were produced. The radium bromide was used for research in the emerging fields of radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
and radioactivity and some of the Hunter's Hill radium was sold to pioneering nuclear researchers Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson OM, FRS was a New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics...
and Marie Curie
Marie Curie
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
.
Mining ceased in 1914 and the Hunters Hill refinery closed the following year.
The mine's second phase of operations started in 1923 when it was operated by the Radium and Rare Earth Treatment Company N.L. which continued operations there until 1931. The company also built a treatment plant in 1923 at Dry Creek
Dry Creek, South Australia
Dry Creek is a mostly industrial suburb located north of Adelaide, containing significant wetlands and a substantial area devoted to salt crystallization pans, managed by Cheltenham Salt Limited....
near Adelaide to produce radium bromide for medical applications from the Radium Hill ore, however this proved to be uneconomic and both sites had ceased operations by 1932.
Activity recommenced after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, with a Department of Mines geological survey in 1944 and exploration and drilling work done in 1946-1947. In March 1952 the Commonwealth and the South Australian governments
Government of South Australia
The form of the Government of South Australia is prescribed in its constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
signed a cost plus
Cost-plus contract
A cost-plus contract, also termed a Cost Reimbursement Contract, is a contract where a contractor is paid for all of its allowed expenses to a set limit plus additional payment to allow for a profit. Cost-reimbursement contracts contrast with fixed-price contract, in which the contractor is paid a...
uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
supply contract with the UK-USA Combined Development Agency
Combined Development Agency
The Combined Development Agency was a defense purchasing authority established in 1948 by the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom...
, initially for defence purposes, for delivery over seven years. A section of Maldorkey Station was annexed and proclaimed a "Uranium mining reserve" in 1954 and the mine was officially opened by the Governor General of Australia, Field Marshal Sir William Slim
William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim
Field Marshal William Joseph "Bill"'Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC, KStJ was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia....
on 10 November the same year.
The state government operated the mine and installed various infrastructure to support the operations. An 18 kilometres (11.2 mi) spur line connecting the site to the main Broken Hill railway line at Cutana Siding was built in 1954. An aerodrome
Aerodrome
An aerodrome, airdrome or airfield is a term for any location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve cargo, passengers or neither...
was constructed and roads improved in the same period. The town to house mine workers and their families was built also. This included 145 houses: in 1961 a population of 867 was recorded. Other town facilities included a hospital, school, government retail store, canteens, swimming pool, a bus service to Broken Hill and recreation and commercial facilities.
The main shaft of the mine was 420 metres (1,378 ft) deep with a 40 metres (131.2 ft) headframe
Headframe
A headframe is the structural frame above an underground mine shaft. Modern headframes are built out of steel, concrete or a combination of both...
. Ore was crushed at a ball mill
Ball mill
A ball mill is a type of grinder used to grind materials into extremely fine powder for use in mineral dressing processes, paints, pyrotechnics, and ceramics.-Description:...
and treated on site at a surface concentrate mill using a heavy media separation and flotation process. It was then rail-freighted to the purpose-built Port Pirie Uranium Treatment Complex which processed ore from Radium Hill and Myponga (Wild Dog Hill), south of Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
. The Port Pirie complex was also operated by the state government.
The mine output was 970,000 tonnes of 0.09-0.13% ore and the ore concentrate produced a mix of about 150,000 tonnes of yellowcake
Yellowcake
Yellowcake is a kind of uranium concentrate powder obtained from leach solutions, in an intermediate step in the processing of uranium ores. Yellowcake concentrates are prepared by various extraction and refining methods, depending on the types of ores...
which was then processed at Port Pirie where it was subjected to hot acid leaching, producing about 860 tons of U3O8 worth more than ₤15 million. After seven years of operations, the contract was filled and the plant officially decommissioned on 21 December 1961.
Site rehabilitation
Restoration works on the site were undertaken in 1962 and again in 1981 when the tailings impoundment was covered with about 75,000 m3 of material from four adjacent borrow pitBorrow pit
A borrow pit, also known as a sand box, is a term used in construction and civil engineering. It describes an area where material has been dug for use at another location. Borrow pits can be found close to many major construction projects...
s. Backfilling of old mine openings was also undertaken.
Radioactive waste repository
From 1981 an area of the site was gazetted as a low-level radioactive wasteRadioactive waste
Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...
repository. Approximately 16 separate consignments of waste, including contaminated soil from Thebarton
Thebarton, South Australia
Thebarton is a suburb of the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The suburb is bounded by the River Torrens to the north, Port Road and Bonython Park to the east, Kintore Street to the south, and South Road to the west....
in the Adelaide metropolitan area was deposited there. The last deposit was made in 1998.
A New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
government study in 1979 found the incidence of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
-related deaths by former Radium Hill workers to be four times the national average. According to the report, 59% of underground miners who had worked there for a period of two years or more had died of cancer.
The site has been inactive since 1998. The Resources Division of Minerals and Energy at the Department of Primary Industry and Resources maintains management responsibility including a radiological watch on the site.
Quotes
Further reading
- Mudd, G M, ‘The Legacy of Early Uranium Efforts in Australia 1906 to 1945: From Radium Hill to the Atomic Bomb and Today.’ Historical Records of Australian Science, 2005, 16 (2)
- Mining In South Australia, 1982, Compiled by J. F. Drexel, Dept. of Mines & Energy South Australia, Special Publication No. 3.
- Mudd, G M, Compilation of Uranium Production History and Uranium Deposit Data Across Australia