Friday, 27 July, 2007

by Barry Fitzgerald
The Age

RIO Tinto's new chief executive, Tom Albanese, has reassured the Mirarr people the mining giant will not pressure them to give Rio's uranium subsidiary, Energy Resources of Australia, development approval for the $50 billion Jabiluka deposit in the Northern Territory.

"We have for a long time made the commitment that further development would be subject to the prior informed consent of the traditional landowners," London-based Mr Albanese said.

He said Rio had made that commitment several years ago and was standing by it.

Despite the continuing ban on Jabiluka, ERA was well sought on the market yesterday.

Its shares rose $1.66 to $20.92 on upgraded production forecasts for its nearby Ranger mine, with water handling issues at the operation now under control.

Heavy rain in the June half limited ERA's profit to $5.7 million, down from $19.9 million in the previous corresponding period.

Rio angered the traditional Jabiluka owners in May when it told a London briefing on its uranium assets that their approval could be received in the "near-term future" after a dramatic improvement in relations in the past two years. The Mirarr disputed that was the case and said approval was not forthcoming.

Asked if the continuing Aboriginal veto on a development at Jabiluka was a source of frustration to the company, Mr Albanese said it was more a "realistic reflection of the fact that mining across the globe is now subject to a more complex set of factors than just what type of hole the engineers can bring on".

"It means that at a company like Rio Tinto, we have to complement our natural geologic and engineering skills with leadership skills, with social skills and with stakeholder skills," he said.

Rio and ERA have not given up on Jabiluka, with Mr Albanese saying that in the "long term" Rio's "leadership in these areas will deliver a compelling advantage".

He added that the Aboriginal veto at Jabiluka was but one of many "stakeholder challenges globally to get production to market".

"I think this represents a natural global constraint to new supply which will not only be there for the next year or two, but which will endure for decades," he said.