{"id":56351,"date":"2026-07-22T23:19:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T23:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/56351\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T23:19:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T23:19:25","slug":"shock-discovery-at-aussie-mine-left-undisturbed-for-80-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/56351\/","title":{"rendered":"Shock discovery at Aussie mine left undisturbed for 80 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

An exploration of abandoned mine shafts<\/a> left largely undisturbed for more than 80 years has led Australian researchers to discover something unexpected.<\/p>\n

Toxic materials thought to be locked away<\/a> inside stable minerals have been exposed to the elements across waste sites.<\/p>\n

The discovery was made by Monash University and CSIRO researchers at the old Mount Painter mine, in the northern Flinders Ranges of South Australia.<\/a><\/p>\n

The area is now part of the protected Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, a privately-owned 610-square-kilometre eco-reserve.<\/p>\n

It had previously been thought that uranium and rare-earth elements were housed safely within insoluble materials and couldn’t be spread by groundwater.<\/p>\n

But the researchers have found evidence that microbes are consuming the material and transforming it into nanoparticles, which can easily move through the soil.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story? Contact newsroomau@yahoonews.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Look closely, and you’ll notice small deposits of green uranyl phosphate minerals like radioactive meta-torbernite near the surface. We’ve circled one, but there are three more in the picture.<\/p>\n

(Journal of Hazardous Materials)\"Close-up<\/p>\n

A fragment of radioactive Meta-torbernite collected from the mine site.<\/p>\n

(Monash University)<\/p>\n

In areas with the greatest levels of microbial diversity, researchers also found high levels of nanoparticles, suggesting a direct link between the two.<\/p>\n

The research has been published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.<\/a><\/p>\n

Microbes could impact Australia’s mining expansion plans<\/p>\n

Monash University Professor of Synchrotron Geosciences, Jo\u00ebl Brugger, explained that they are working like “microscopic factories”, breaking down stable minerals into forms that can easily be dispersed throughout the environment.<\/p>\n

“We have traditionally assumed that these toxic metals were securely locked away by nature in these arid environments, but these tiny organisms are proving us wrong,” he said.<\/p>\n

Speaking later with Yahoo News, Professor Brugger said he was “genuinely surprised” by the finding because similar studies overseas had shown materials like uranium phosphate were “super stable”.<\/p>\n

“The feedback was generally that similar studies had been done in the United States and they’d found nothing, and the results will be really boring”, he said.<\/p>\n

“But Australian soils appear to be a little bit more complicated, and the climate is obviously quite different.”<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Miners loading ore at the site in the mid-1920s.<\/p>\n

(Monash University)<\/p>\n

Australia has positioned itself as a hub for rare-earth mining,<\/a> which could supply the United States with materials for the transition to greener energy sources.<\/p>\n

Professor Brugger has warned that the impact of microbes must be factored into waste management processes to prevent damage to the landscape.<\/p>\n

“Understanding exactly how these native microbes interact with waste materials is absolutely vital if we want to prevent unseen, long-term environmental contamination, and develop the sustainable mine of the future,” he said.<\/p>\n

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