Day 71
And just up the road - Turquoise Dam.
June 27, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
7km cycle up the once busy mining road is the Turquoise Dam. A rather romantic name for a big hole left by Uranium miners. But it is pretty.
Why is it so turquoise?
Traveler Don't swim there. You won't need a flashlight if you do. I suspect the colour is a compound of copper but it was a uranium mine.
Traveler 👍. I wondered about that Rob!
Traveler The Mary K project was lauded in the day as one of the best managed ever. Time has a way of modifying history though. The containment of contaminated waste is said to be leaching away from the mine into the environment. Ironically the deposit was discovered by detecting natural leaching downstream. All the uranium was mined, concentrated and sent overseas. Mostly to UK I think.