Pt Pirie Treatment Plant - 1962 to Present
 Decommissioned former administration building. (2006) (larger .jpeg image ~ 100kb) |
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Following decommissioning of the Port Pirie treatment plant site in 1962, the site was mothballed for a number of years during which time, attempts were made to establish alternative uses including the pursuit of rare earth elements. In the subsequent years ongoing maintenance of the site has included covering much of the tailing dams with granulated slag from the neighbouring lead smelters; this has proved very effective in the minimisation of gamma radiation, radon emission, and dust suppression.
The site is a registered premise under the Radiation Protection and Control Act 1982 (RPC Act). A certificate of registration has been issued for the site by the Environment Protection Authority, which includes a number of conditions. These conditions are aimed towards the development of an appropriate overall long-term management plan.
The overall management of the site is being undertaken in a series of phases. Phase 1 (which was effectively completed in 2004) was a preliminary investigation of the site. Phase 2 (the current phase) is directed to a more detailed site characterisation, phase 3 will cover risk assessment and control selection for the site.
Upon completion of the 3rd phase sufficient information should then be available to enable an effective and informed decision to be made on the future management of the site. The final phase (4) will see the development and implementation of an appropriate long-term management plan for the site.
Recently completed projects (supporting the current phase) have included:
- site contamination surveys
- waste quantification and site survey
- resource economic studies.
In addition to the above projects the other major undertaking in 2006 was the demolition of all infrastructures at the Port Pirie Rare Earth Treatment Plant site.
Remaining on site are the six original uranium tailings dams, and the Rare Earth extraction dams, these cover approximately 26 hectares containing some 200,000 tonnes of tailings.
- Page URL: http://outernode.pir.sa.gov.au/minerals/sa_mines/former_mines/port_pirie_treatment_plant/pt_pirie_62_present
- Page Last Modified: October 31, 2007