Wednesday, 15 August, 2007

ABC NT Local News

Demand for uranium is set to push next year's income generated from mineral exploration in the Northern Territory towards $100 million.

The number of exploration licences for uranium in the NT has doubled on last year, with nearly 80 companies either actively exploring or having applied to explore.

NT Mineral Council spokeswoman Kezia Purick says most of the companies are Australian.

"Hopefully we'll see more companies set up exploration offices in the Territory," she said.

Gold is still the most sought-after mineral in the NT, but Ms Purick says uranium is rapidly growing.

"If it was a race, yes, uranium is definitely in the hunt," she said.

Ms Kezia says 37 companies are competing for the Angela and Pamela deposits near Alice Springs, although the NT Government is unlikely to select a company until the end of the year.

"China has got 11 new reactors for power generation at the moment and they have another 14 currently under construction or planned for completion by 2013, so they're going to want to get uranium from somewhere and Australia is one of their desired locations," she said.

"We've got companies that are planning to float on the stock exchange, we have leading companies from overseas that are interested in the NT."