Ranger Uranium Mine

The Ranger Uranium Mine is a uranium mine in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is surrounded by, but separate from Kakadu National Park, 230 km east of Darwin. The orebody was discovered in 1969, and the mine commenced operation in 1980, reaching full production of uranium oxide in 1981. It is operated by Energy Resources of Australia, a 68% subsidiary of Rio Tinto Group. Uranium mined at Ranger is sold for use in nuclear power stations in Asia, Europe and North America.The original orebody was completely mined out by the end of 1995, although some ore remains stockpiled. A second orebody ("Ranger 3") began mining in 1997. Both have been open-pit mines. Open cut mining finished at Ranger in late 2012 and the mine is now processing stockpiled ore.As of 2013, the ageing Ranger mine has been incurring financial losses as a result of the continuing market slump which has followed the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Water management and waste management continue to be controversial issues.Discovery and operation of the mineThe Ranger uranium orebody, the richest in the Southern Hemisphere, was discovered in 1969, when an aerial radiometric survey conducted by Noranda Aluminum, Inc., detected a spike in gamma radiation when passing over Mount Brockman, known as Djidbidjidbi to the Aboriginal Australians. The Ranger No. 1 and Ranger No. 3 ore bodies occur in the Cahill Formation, consisting of Lower Proterozoic metasediments, located in the Alligator Rivers Uranium Field.