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(last updated 26 Jun 2009)
(UIC) (UIC)
New uranium mining projects are possible, since the new coalition government, elected on 2 March 1996, scrapped the former limitation (Three Mines Policy) immediately. (Sydney Morning Herald, March 23, 1996)
Uranium Exploration Australia Ltd has signed an agreement with India's Reliance Industries Ltd to explore for uranium in South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Reliance is the largest private sector company in India.
The eight tenements involved include four near the Olympic Dam mine in northern South Australia.
UXA managing director Patrick Mutz said while Australia could not currently export uranium to India, Reliance were likely to be taking a broader view of the strength of the uranium sector than simply securing supply for the Indian market.
(Adelaide Now Dec. 10, 2007)
has accepted the federal Government's push to expand uranium mining and exports.
(Australian 4 May, 2006)
(ALGA) is calling on the Federal Government to stop the development of any more uranium mines in Australia. Almost 800 members voted for the motion at the ALGA meeting in Canberra
on 1 Dec. 1999. (ABC News 2 Dec. 1999)
The Senate Select Committee on Uranium Mining and Milling has supported the 1977 Fox Inquiry principal findings that there should be no unreasonable impediment to developing Australia's uranium mining. It concludes that those findings have been "vindicated by two decades' experience". Chairman, Grant Chapman, said that the report "recognises the industry's achievements in being responsive to public interest. It deserves more recognition for its conscientious approach than it receives". "Australia's cautious, careful policy has resulted in mining with minimal impact on the environment. This should continue", he said.The Office of the Supervising Scientist was commended and encouraged to develop "a broad expertise in environmental aspects of uranium mining and milling." But the report recommends establishment of a new Commonwealth Uranium Authority which would duplicate present state and federal arrangements for environmental and health supervision. This should be complemented at each mine by a consultative committee representative of local interests. Government Senators recorded their disagreement with the proposed Authority but support for the consultative committees. Senate 15/5/97
[UIC Weekly News Summary 16 May 1997]
View Select Committee Report
View Minority Report by Senator Dee Margetts and Senator Meg Lees
Select and download Committee Hearings
Transcripts.
View Australian Government response to the Select Committee report (May 1998)
> Search Sydney Morning Herald
On Dec. 16, 2008, Toro Energy Limited announced that URS Australia Pty Ltd has been commissioned to undertake a scoping study to determine viable development options for the Napperby Uranium Project, 175 kilometres northwest of Alice Springs in the Northerrn Territory.
The scoping study is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2009.
Jiangsu Eastern China Non-Ferrous Metals Investment Holding Company has entered an equity investment agreement with Arafura Resources. Under the proposal, the Chinese investment firm will inject more than $8 million into Arafura by acquiring up to 25 per cent of its final shares on issue. Jiangsu Eastern China Non-Ferrous Metals Investment Holding Company is a subsidiary of the East China Exploration and Development Bureau, a major mineral exploration, development and mining group based in the Jiangsu province of China. (Northern Territory News Feb. 25, 2009)
The draft guidelines for the Nolan's Bore environmental impact statement are open for public comment until November 17, 2008.
> View NT Govt. Nolan's Bore page
On April 8, 2008, Arafura Resources Ltd announed that it has commissioned a definitive feasibility study for its Nolans rare earth project. The project is being developed to produce co-products of 20,000 tonnes of rare earths and 150,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid. The project will also produce by-products of calcium chloride and a small amount of uranium.
The project is being opposed by the Alice Springs Angela Pamela (ASAP) Alliance .
has described the land around the Angela and Pamela uranium deposits as an important ecological area that needs to be preserved.
Two companies have been given exploration rights for the deposits, which are 25 kilometres south of Alice Springs and estimated to be worth $2.5 billion.
But the Environment Centre's Emma Young says use of the area should be kept to low impact activities like tourism.
"It was identified in the NT draft parks masterplan as a site of national biodiversity and conservation significance. It's not actually within the NT parks structure at the moment, but it was identified as being a very important ecological area that should be preserved."
She says new mines could also impact the town's drinking water supply.
"The deposits are located within the Alice Springs water catchment area and that'll have direct and indirect impacts on the quality and also on the amount of water that's available to Alice Springs township." says many people in the community are opposed to the development of a uranium mine so close to the town.
(ABC Feb. 21, 2008)
> View deposit info
ERA has been
granted final approval to mine the Ranger 3 orebody.
Development can now begin at the orebody, which has proven and
probable reserves of 56,615 t U3O8. ERA
plans to commence production from Ranger 3 in 1997. [UI News
Briefing 96/20]
Ranger mill capacity is to be increased 50% to handle almost 2
million tonnes of ore per year, corresponding to 5000t/yr
U3O8 production from Ranger ore
(stockpiled from No.1 orebody and to be mined from No.3). This
will cost some $38 million and be completed in mid 1997. [UIC
Weekly News Summary 28 June 1996]
> For opponents view see Ranger-3
Uranium Mining Project.
Traditional owners in the NT's Kakadu region have decided to continue a ban on mining at the $5 billion Koongarra uranium deposit. Representatives of traditional owners, the Northern Land Council, Areva and the Territory and Federal governments met in Jabiru and Cooinda this week to discuss the future of the deposit. Traditional owners decided mining should not go ahead at the site. (ABC Feb. 28, 2009)
Environmentalists have launched a campaign to have the $5 billion Koongarra uranium deposit formally incorporated into Kakadu National Park. Koongarra is just three kilometres from the sacred rock art at Nourlangie, but despite being surrounded by Kakadu National Park, the deposit is not part of the park. The French company Areva has asked to mine 14,000 tonnes of uranium at the site, only to be frustrated by its traditional owner. Jeffrey Lee wants Koongarra incorporated into Kakadu, and the Australian Conservation Foundation says it is high time that happened. "It's in a most beautiful part of Kakadu, it just shouldn't go ahead," he says. Under Commonwealth laws, the Northern Land Council must ask Mr Lee if he wants the site mined by next June. After that has happened, the Commonwealth can consider absorbing it into Kakadu. (ABC June 3, 2008)
Jeffrey Lee, sole member of the Djok clan and senior custodian of the Koongarra uranium deposit, has decided never to allow the ecologically sensitive land to be mined. He rather wants to see the land that is surrounded by the Kakadu National Park to become incorporated into the park.
"There are sacred sites, there are burial sites and there are other special places out there which are my responsibility to look after," Mr Lee told The Age.
Under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act (Northern Territory), Areva must get Mr Lee's approval at a meeting called by the Northern Land Council before it can start extracting the uranium.
In August 2005, the Government seized control of uranium mining from the Northern Territory, declaring the territory open for new mines.
But the Howard Government has always maintained that no new mine would be approved in the territory unless it had the approval of traditional owners.
The Government has told UNESCO, the world body under which Kakadu is listed as a heritage site, that it would agree in principle for Koongarra to be incorporated into the park if the traditional owners requested it.
(The Age July 14, 2007)
French mining company Areva has ruled out mining of the Koongarra deposit in the near future. Areva has been negotiating with the traditional owners through the Northern Land Council, but a spokesman at the company's Paris office says Areva has no plans to mine the site. By Australian law, every five years the company can ask the traditional owners if it can mine. So far the traditional owners have said no, and last year the moratorium was extended for another year. That has now lapsed, but a statement from Areva's head office says there are no plans to develop Koongarra in the near future because it is concentrating on new projects in Canada and Kazakhstan. (ABC May 9, 2006)
On May 27, 2005, Northern Territory Mines and Energy Minister Kon Vatskalis said he would not approve any application for a mining lease at the Koongarra site. He said the decision was based on the proximity of the deposit to the "iconic" Nourlangie Rock. The Federal Government could overrule the decision, however. (Northern Territory News, May 28, 2005)
On April 26, 2005, the day the moratorium on the development of the Koongarra uranium deposit ends, environmentalists called on the French government to abandon attempts to develop a second uranium mine in Kakadu National Park. French nuclear power company Cogema has said it will revive efforts to mine the multi-million-dollar Koongarra deposit. The environmentalists consist of the Environment Centre of the Northern Territory, the Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and The Wilderness Society. (Australian Apr. 26, 2005)
Cogéma will revive efforts to mine its Koongarra deposit once a moratorium ends in April 2005. Traditional owners, through the Northern Land Council (NLC), imposed the five year moratorium on mining the deposit. The deposit contains approx. 14000 t U3O8, and it is located 250km east of Darwin in world heritage-listed Kakadu National Park. (Australian Feb. 16, 2005)
The Aboriginal traditional owners of the proposed Koongarra uranium mine site in the Northern Territory have vetoed the development. The Northern Land Council says a full council meeting today resolved to refuse consent for Koongarra. (ABC News 4 April 2000)
> See also:
Uranium Exploration in West Arnhem Land , A Report for the Environment Centre Northern Territory and the Australian Conservation Foundation, by Gary Scott & Mark Wakeham, November 2001 (1.5MB PDF)
The Queensland state government policy prohibits uranium mining.
announced
they have reached agreement for the Farm-in by Dragon Energy Ltd of a majority interest in five Deep Yellow Ltd uranium projects located in Queensland.
victory at the 13 June 1998 state elections, the policy of the new Queensland government states that "Labor will not grant a mining lease for the purposes of mining uranium in Queensland. Nor will it permit the treatment or processing of uranium in the state." [UIC Weekly News Summary 17 July 1998]
> View deposit details: Ben Lomond · Maureen
has commenced a pre-feasibility study of its Ben Lomond uranium-molybdenum resource in Queensland, Australia, with a view to determining the project economics, the preferred mining and processing options and the key steps in mine development.
"The agreements relating to the purchases of the Ben Lomond Project and the Maureen Project in Queensland, Australia will be terminated effective November 4, 1998 and December 3, 1998 respectively. The Company does not intend to pursue these projects further because of a number of factors relating to the poor short-term uranium market, the difficulty in raising money for junior resource companies and the political environment in Queensland. This has changed, following an election, and is now not conducive to mining uranium. Accordingly, the Ben Lomond Project has been written off for accounting purposes as of August 31, 1998. The Maureen Project was similarly written off as of May 31, 1998." (Anaconda Uranium Corp., Oct 30, 1998)
> View deposit details
On Sep. 7, 2006, Paladin Resources Ltd became a majority shareholder of Valhalla Uranium Ltd.
Recent drilling at the Valhalla uranium deposit
in north-west Queensland has produced positive results. Owned
jointly by Summit Resources NL and project manager Resolute , the drilling
intersected U3O8 with grades exceeding 1.0% and indicated a
possible increase in the length of the mineralised zone to 600
meters from the 240 meters previously assessed. (UI News
Briefing 50/97)
The latest outcome from renewed exploration effort for uranium
is that Summit Resources NL and Resolute Ltd have doubled the
size of the Valhalla deposit, near Mount Isa. The overall
resource now comprises 29,000 tonnes U3O8, including measured,
indicated and inferred resources of 14 Mt of ore at 0.157%
containing 22,000 tonnes U3O8. (UIC Weekly News Summary 27 March
1998)
> View deposit details
On Apr. 17, 2007, Laramide Resources Ltd announced the completion of the scoping study. In the study, the mine is planned as an entirely open cut operation using conventional acid leaching and solvent extraction technology in the process plant. A mining and milling rate of 1.5 million tonnes per year at an average grade of 0.10% U3O8 for average annual production of 3 million pounds of U3O8 [1154 t U] was used in the scoping study. Production costs for a pound of U3O8 average US$ 19.02 for the first 6 years of the mine life, during which time the strip ratio will be 2.3 to 1. From year 7 onwards, the average production costs of U3O8 will increase to US$ 25.17 per pound as the strip ratio increases during the mining of the smaller Junnagunna and Huarabagoo deposits. Life of the mine will be greater than 11 years.
On Nov. 24, 2006, Laramide Resources Ltd announced that they have commissioned GRD Minproc Limited to complete a Scoping Study of its Westmoreland uranium deposit located in Queensland Australia. CEO Marc Henderson stated that "The Scoping Study will allow us to evaluate the economic potential of Westmoreland and should provide a development path forward for the project when the necessary policy changes are made in Queensland to permit mining of uranium." It is anticipated that the study will be completed in the first quarter of 2007.
wants the issue decided by public ballot.
(Perth Now Jan. 31, 2009)
> View deposit details
On Oct. 21, 2008, Mega Uranium Ltd. reported that it has received a positive preliminary economic assessment (first pass scoping study) of its Lake Maitland uranium resource in Western Australia. Mega "is now focused on advancing the project through to production in 2011".
> View deposit details
Paladin Resources is planning to exploit the Manyingee uranium deposit using the in-situ leaching technology. Once Paladin has confirmed the resource and carried out metallurgical testwork, it hopes to begin a feasibility study in the middle of 1999. The company is looking at making a development decision by about 2001. (Australian Mining Monthly Oct. 1998 )
> View deposit details
On Apr. 9, 2009, Toro Energy Limited lodged an application for a Mining Lease over its Lake Way uranium deposit near Wiluna in WA. The Lake Way deposit, along with the Centipede deposit 15kms to the south, comprise the 100% owned Wiluna Uranium Project for Toro. The Mining Lease application at Lake Way will provide certainty regarding tenure of the deposit, however, the tenement grant would not provide any approvals for mining or operations. A mining lease has previously been granted over the Centipede uranium deposit.
On Sep. 23, 2008, Toro Energy Ltd announced that mining and processing of the Lakeway-Centipede uranium deposits would be economic at current long-term uranium prices of around US$80 per pound U3O8, according to results of a pre-feasibility study.
> View deposit details
Green groups and unions are pushing for an unprecedented level of environmental scrutiny over plans for WA's first uranium mine, calling for a public inquiry with the powers of a royal commission to assess BHP Billiton's proposed Yeelirrie project in the Goldfields.
The WA Conservation Council lodged an appeal yesterday against the level of assessment set for the project by the Environmental Protection Authority, saying the watchdog needed to invoke previously unused powers under its legislation to ensure all possible impacts of the controversial proposal were subjected to an effective investigation.
The EPA assigned an assessment level to BHP's proposal less than two weeks ago, recommending an environmental review and management program (ERMP) be used to evaluate the project.
(The West Australian June 26, 2009)
> Download Conservation Council of WA release June 26, 2009 (PDF)
BHP Billiton has submitted documents to the federal Environment Department signalling plans to start development at Yeelirrie in two years and to begin mining by 2014.
BHP Billiton said it planned to produce an average of 5000 tonnes of uranium a year from the deposit for more than 30 years.
The mine is yet to be approved by the board of BHP Billiton.
The documents lodged with the Environment Department are part of the environmental impact statement process, the first steps in obtaining government approval for the Yeelirrie project.
The Yeelirrie deposit is shallow - less than 5m below the surface - and easy to mine as an open pit but it will be massive. The deposit is 9km long and 1.5km wide.
(The Australian May 22, 2009)
> View Invitation to Comment: EPBC Notices : BHP Billiton Yeelirrie Development Company Pty Ltd/Mining/Shire of Wiluna/WA/Yeelirrie Uranium Mine, Reference Number: 2009/4906
Deadline Date: June 4, 2009
On 18 November 2008, BHP Billiton announced that it has formally advised the West Australian Government of its decision to reactivate the Yeelirrie Uranium Project. In a letter to the State Minister for Mines and Petroleum, The Hon Norman Moore, BHP Billiton has indicated it will first undertake a drilling program to confirm the resource. BHP Billiton is assembling a Project team to be based in Perth to evaluate mining and processing options and to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement. The company will also commence community consultation. (WMC Nov. 18, 2008)
WMC has commenced remediation works at its Yeelirrie mine site in the North of Western Australia. The rehabilitiation plan has been developed with the approval of the State Mining Engineer and Radiological Council. Earthworks commenced on June 10th, 2004, and are expected to be completed in time for the revegetation work which will be completed by year-end to coincide with seasonal rains. (WMC June 18, 2004)
The Western Australia State Government has announced plans to terminate the Yeelirrie State Agreement that covers tenements 500 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie. WA State Development Minister Clive Brown says the holder of the tenements, WMC Resources, has agreed to stop mining uranium in the area and rehabilitate the land. The rehabilitation work will take place over the next six months, and WMC expects to complete its rehabilitation work by the end of the year 2004. (ABC Mar 31, 2004)
WMC said on 8 Feb. 2000 it would hand back the Yeelirrie uranium deposit to the WA Government if it failed to find a buyer in two years.
The company said it had spent $35 million at Yeelirrie, 75km south-west of
Wiluna. But weak uranium prices in the past year had made it difficult for
any new uranium project to get off the ground.
(The West Australian 9 Feb. 2000)
The Western Mining Corporation has admitted leaving the contaminated trial uranium mine of Yeelirree exposed to the public, with inadequate fencing and warning signs, for more
than 10 years. People used a dam at the site for swimming, which
was found to be about 30 times above World Health Organisation
radiation safety standards. (The Age, 10 July 1997)
> View related page of WMC Environment Progress Report 1996
> View deposit details
Cameco has unveiled plans to speed up the development of the Kintyre uranium project in Western Australia. The company will restart an exploration program to confirm the resource and verify previous work and re-establish an exploration camp and infrastructure, the company said in a statement. (The Australian April 6, 2009)
On Aug. 11, 2008, Cameco announced that it has completed the acquisition of a 70% interest in the Kintyre uranium exploration project in Western Australia for $346.5 million (US). A joint venture comprised of Cameco (70%) and Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd (30%) purchased the Kintyre project from Rio Tinto for $495.0 million (US) through a bidding process. Cameco will operate the project and is funding its share of the purchase price through existing credit facilities.
Aboriginal landowners are set to secure equity involvement in development of the Kintyre uranium deposit in Western Australia (WA) after its sale by Rio Tinto to Canada's Cameco and Japan's Mitsubishi Development in a ground-breaking deal worth $US495 million ($A515 million). Kintyre is one of the world's biggest undeveloped uranium deposits (80 million pounds of uranium now worth $4.8 billion in its finished form) but its development has been held up by WA's continuing ban on uranium mine developments. But the traditional landowners, the Martu people, will join the new owners to pressure the WA Labor Government to lift the ban. (The Age July 11, 2008)
On July 9, 2008, Cameco Corporation announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire a 70% interest in the Kintyre uranium exploration project in Western Australia for US$ 346.5 million.
A joint venture comprised of Cameco (70%) and Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd (30%) purchased the Kintyre project from Rio Tinto for US$ 495.0 million through a bidding process. Cameco will operate the project and is funding its share of the purchase price through existing credit facilities. The transaction is expected to close in August 2008 subject to ministerial approval in Western Australia and execution of certain agreements with the Martu people who are the traditional owners of the land.
Rio Tinto has lost critical Aboriginal support for the proposed sale of its high-grade Kintyre uranium deposit in Western Australia, raising the prospect that it could face a legal challenge to its rights to sell the $600 million property to one of the uranium groups it is lining up as a buyer. Undisclosed offers made by Rio to the Martu people, the traditional owners, to win their support for the sale process are said to have been "embarrassingly low" given that Martu support is crucial to Kintyre, one of Australia's biggest undeveloped uranium deposits, becoming a mine. (The Age March 19, 2008)
Rio Tinto has begun work on a new pre-feasibility study - the first move towards reviving the project which stalled in the late 1990s. The pre-feasibility study, which will include drilling to develop a new resource estimate, is expected to take two years. It will build on a previous study carried out in 1991. (Herald Sun May 12, 2007)
Kintyre put on back burner. After being "slowed down" last year, the Kintyre project is being placed under care and maintenance. The project team will be disbanded at the end of the year and administration of the site facilities will be returned to Rio Tinto Exploration pending increased uranium prices. The project is at an advanced stage of development and with improvement in the market Rio Tinto could quickly bring it into production. Resources of some 36,000 tonnes U3O8 would provide about 2000 t/yr from a very small plant after radiometric beneficiation. Rio Tinto. [UIC Weekly News Summary 16 October 1998]
Canning Resources, a Rio Tinto subsidiary, has referred the
Kintyre uranium project to the West Australian environmental authorities
and has notified its intention to seek export approvals from the
Federal Government.
The scoping document proposes a 1200 t/yr
U3O8 production with the potential to
increase to 2000 t/yr. It envisages a capital investment of $120
million and annual revenue of $60-70 million. The total area
disturbed, including up to five small open cuts, will be about
three square kilometres (300 ha), with the treatment plant
occupying about six hectares. An additional 100 ha will be
required for infrastructure.
Tailings will be in two streams, both as filter cake which is
buried in mine workings. The first is a conventional residue
from acid leaching, containing most of the ore's radioactivity.
The second is mixed gypsum and iron hydroxide from an iron
precipitation stage. The other eventual waste will be some
evaporite from process liquors which cannot be recycled. There
will be no tailings dam. [UIC Weekly News Summary 21 June 1996]
For details of the environmental assessment process, see the
Australian Environmental Protection Agency Environment
Assessment Branch notifications on the Kintyre project .
For opponents view, see Anti-Nuclear Alliance of Western Australia .
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