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8752868 
Journal Article 
Olympic Dam: some developments in geological understanding over nearly two decades 
Smith, RN 
1993 
113-118 
English 
The Olympic Dam copper-uranium-gold-silver deposit, located approximately 520km north-northwest of Adelaide, South Australia was discovered in 1975 by Western Mining Corporation. A joint venture to facilitate development of the deposit was formed in mid-1979 between WMC and the British Petroleum Group. Production commenced in 1988, and current annual output from the mining and treatment of 2.2 Mt of ore is approximately 65 000 t of refined copper and 1400 t of uranium oxide. Significant amounts of refined gold and silver are also produced. Geological interpretation and genesis of the Olympic Dam deposit has been the subject of considerable discussion and debate. The paper reviews the evolution of geological interpretation, and the factors which have affected these developments. The paper also discusses the impact of this evolutionary process on the development of the mining and metallurgical processing operations at Olympic Dam. Some comments are also made on the future direction of geological investigation and its potential impact on the operations. -from Author