The management of environmental aspects in uranium projects is in many ways no different to the management of environmental aspects in any heavy metal mining project. But there are important differences that need to be borne in mind if permitting issues and long term legacy issues are to be minimized. These differences include public perception of radioactivity and radioactive materials, the fact that uranium has daughter elements that themselves pose environmental hazards by virtue of their toxicity and longevity and the need to measure the effectiveness of controls through both dose as well as concentration. This paper highlights the author's experience with environmental management on a number of well known uranium mines and covers the management of stockpiles, heap leach facilities, waste dumps, tailings and effluent containment facilities as well as the mining area, plant area and transport routes. Experiences gained from consulting to these operations have been summarised to provide pointers to potential environmental management requirements for new projects.
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