As a result, the company officially opened the mine on 27 March 2013 while simultaneously handing over new houses to 246 families who were relocated from Segorong to Praktiseer and Pidima, also in Burgersfort. The opening of the mine and the completion of the houses has been a long and arduous 12-year journey but finally both the community of Segorong and Imerys South Africa have a good reason to celebrate, says Imerys CEO and chairperson Gilles Michel.
Polonium is a radioactive element discovered in 1898 by scientists Marie and Pierre Curie and named for Marieâs native country, Poland. One of the Earthâs rarest elements, itâs an odorless, silvery-gray soft metal that can be ground into powder.
All other polonium isotopes are short-lived except polonium-210 (half-life about 138 days), which is the most commonly used isotope. It is prepared by bombarding bismuth with neutrons in a nuclear reactor.olonium has 34 isotopes, more than any other element. All of these isotopes are radioactive. The most stable, polonium-209, has a half-life of about 103 years. Polonium-208 (half-life about 3 years) is the only other polonium isotope with a half-life over one year.