Protesters Rally at Olympic Dam Site to Halt BHP Uranium Operations

Protesters tried but failed to enter the BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) Olympic Dam mine site in South Australia on Monday to stop the uranium mining operations of BHP.'

However, they failed to break the gate lock. BHP reinforced the primary steel gate with weights to prevent the anti-uranium protesters from entering the mine site.

Police officers were deployed to the site to guard the mine fence, including extra officers on horseback.

The protesters, estimated at 400, marched two kilometers from a makeshift camp ground while chanting anti-uranium messages. Nectaria Calan, organiser of the march, accused the police of harassing the group and depriving them of their civil liberties by seeking identification documents and controlling access to and from their campsite.

The police, in turn, said the protesters did not follow orders to march only on one lane from the campsite to the mine gates, which is a 1.3-kilometre distance. The march caused road closure for two hours.

The police officers have been videotaping the protests to identify those responsible. Appropriate action would be taken against the protesters in the future.

The protesters said they will continue to hold mass action and accused BHP and state and federal officials of placing short-term economic gain over environmental and health concerns.

BHP is studying expansion of the mine which sits on what is the world's largest known uranium deposit. Experts said the mine is capable of producing one-third of the global demand for uranium used in the operation of nuclear power stations.

The anti-uranium protest, part of the five-day Lizard's Revenge Festival, was held on its third day on Monday.