News

June 25, 2008

Inside The Wire At Australia’s Leading Nuclear Facility, The “Guardroos” Watch Over Alkane’s Unique Rare Earths Project

By Our Man in Oz

There is nowhere more secure in Australia than Lucas Heights, down in the southern suburbs of Sydney. Not only is it home to Australia’s only nuclear reactor, but it’s also the site of a myriad of research projects that are rarely seen by the prying eyes of roving reporters. Last week, Minesite’s Man in Oz wriggled his way through the security gates - a snug fit for a largish chap - to have a look at an aspect of one project in particular that’s starting to attract worldwide interest, and which now looms as surprise upside inside the diversified miner Alkane Exploration. In a tin shed by the back fence, in the grounds of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), and guarded by the Australian Federal Police and a mob of Eastern Grey kangaroos, is proof that the Dubbo Zirconia Project (DZP) is not just alive well - it’s kicking.

More than a decade in gestation, the DZP is arguably the most exotic mineral processing venture in Australia. While zirconia - a metal used in a wide variety of chemical and electronic applications – gets a namecheck alongside Dubbo, a town in western New South Wales, the real value in the DZP lies in the suite of other minerals found in its unique orebody. Alongside the zirconia is niobium, used in high strength steels, tantalum, used in electronics, yttrium and other rare earths, all used in...