Thursday, 24 May, 2007

NT News

AN ABORIGINAL group yesterday rejected pleas to allow a new uranium mine to open in the Territory.

The Gundjeihmi Corporation said traditional owners would not give permission for Rio Tinto to develop Jabiluka.

The organisation refused to allow the Northern Territory News to talk to senior traditional owner Yvonne Margarula.
Rio Tinto energy chief executive Preston Chiaro named her in London as the key to gaining permission to mine Jabiluka.

The company produced a graph showing that, including Jabiluka, the company as a whole could produce 20,000 tonnes of uranium per year by 2020.

Gundjeihmi chief executive Graham Dewar said the Mirarr people had been involved in training and other programs with Rio Tinto subsidiary Energy Resources Australia.

But that should not be construed as being support for mining at Jabiluka.
ERA and Rio Tinto yesterday reaffirmed there would be no development of the vast uranium reserves without the consent of the traditional owners.

Rio Tinto spokesman Ian Head denied any friction had occurred between ERA and its parent company as a result of the comments.

And he said Rio Tinto did not mean to place the traditional owners under any pressure.

"We clearly understand the position of the Mirarr people," he said.

Mr Dewar refused to answer questions or reveal any information not in an official written statement. Jabiluka is surrounded by Kakadu but has never been part of the national park.

Rio said only 100ha of land would be disturbed by mining.