Australia has widespread uranium- and thorium-bearing mineral deposits. The Olympic Dam mine in South Australia is the world’s largest deposit of uranium.
Australia has the world’s largest Economic Demonstrated Resources (EDR) of uranium—1,147 thousand tonnes of uranium (ktU; 642,491 petajoules [PJ]) as at 31 December 2019—and is the world’s third largest producer of uranium. In 2019, Australia had three producing uranium mines: Olympic Dam and Four Mile in South Australia, and Ranger in the Northern Territory.
Australian uranium supply has declined moderately over the past ten years, mainly due to the closure of two mines in 2014 and 2015. In the short to medium term, due to the closure of the Ranger Mine in January 2021, Australian production of uranium will decrease by approximately 1,900 tU p.a. Australia’s uranium exploration expenditure has been in decline since the crash of the uranium price in 2011, following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. Additionally, bans and uncertainties concerning uranium mining in some states negatively affect Australia’s ability to attract uranium exploration investment. In 2019 exploration investment was $10.2 million, a fall of 17 per cent compared with the previous year and the lowest it has been since 2003.
There are currently no commercial applications for thorium and world production and consumption rates are negligible. As such, thorium is not produced in Australia and production on a large scale is unlikely in the next few decades.
At present, Australia has no plans for a domestic nuclear power industry. However, interest in the industry at state level led to the South Australian Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission in 2015 and, more recently, the New South Wales Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) repeal Bill 2019 and the Victorian Inquiry into Nuclear Energy Prohibition (2020). Additionally, at the federal level, an Inquiry into the Prerequisites for Nuclear Energy in Australia by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy was undertaken 2019.
Australia is the world’s third largest uranium producer after Kazakhstan and Canada. In 2019, Australia’s production of uranium was approximately 6,613 ktU (3,703 PJ; Figure 5) which is very similar to production in 2018. In 2019, Australia’s uranium production was from three operating uranium mines: Olympic Dam and Four Mile in South Australia, and Ranger in the Northern Territory (Figure 6). Australian uranium production will fall by about 30 per cent (approximately 1900 tU p.a.) in the short to medium term due to the cessation of mining at the Ranger mine. All of Australia’s domestic production is exported.
As of January 2021, new mining is proposed at Boss Energy’s Honeymoon project (South Australia). In Western Australia, the Cameco Australia’s Kintyre and Yeelirrie projects, Toro Energy’s Wiluna project, and Vimy Resources Mulga Rock project have all received environmental approval (Figure 6). Development of these projects is contingent on international uranium market conditions.
Global uranium production is focused in a small number of countries, with Australia, Kazakhstan, Canada, Namibia, South Africa and Niger accounting for most production. Proterozoic unconformity-related deposits in Canada dominate the categories of lowest production cost. The sandstone-hosted resources of Kazakhstan, Niger and the United States comprise the next cost level. The Australian Olympic Dam breccia complex deposit is dominant in the key cost category of less than US$130/kgU.
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