Olympic Dam Mine


Useful Information

Location: Roxby Downs.
(-30.436371, 136.854647)
Open: closed.
[2023]
Fee: closed.
[2023]
Classification: MineCopper Mine MineUranium Mine
Light: n/a
Dimension: L=120,000 m.
Guided tours: D=2.5 h.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Roxby Downs Visitor Information Centre, 1-15 Richardson Place, Roxby Downs SA 5725, Tel: +61-8-8671-5941. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1975 ores discovered.

Description

The Olympic Dam Mine mines the largest accumulation of uranium in the world, the fifth largest copper deposit and there is almost as much gold as the Golden Mile in Western Australia and more silver than in Broken Hill. Copper is the primary product, but uranium, gold and silver are separated. At the moment 500 t of ore are mined per hour which equals 1,500 t of pure copper every week. The mine is owned by Western Mining. The State of South Australia earns about 250-million dollars a year on the mine [2000].

This listing is a result of the Roxby Discovery Tour, which offered tours into the working mine. Unfortunately it is no longer operational, currently there are no tours that offer a visit to the site. There is a Visitor Centre which offers a free 20-minute video about the history of Olympic Dam and Roxby Downs, and the processing plant. It includes also a virtual underground tour.

Our comment: the tour into a working mine was quite exceptional and worth a detour of many kilometers. A 20-minute video is not, they could just share it on youTube. Even if you drive from Port Augusta to Cooper Pedy it's a detour of 160 km. Unfortunately this site is not of any interest anymore.