Friday, 27 July, 2007

by A;ex Wilson
The Australian

URANIUM companies have a responsibility to secure community support so the industry has a "social licence" to mine uranium, the Australian uranium conference in Fremantle was told yesterday.

Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane said the Government recognised uranium was different to other minerals and that the public had particular expectations.

Because of this the Government was standing firm on three non-negotiable points: that Australia and the environment must be safe and uranium mined in Australia be transported safely; that communities must be consulted; and that Australian uranium would be used only for peaceful purposes and not for weapons.

Mr Macfarlane told more than 400 conference delegates the Government would only approve mines that met stringent environmental requirements.

It also expected all industry participants to respect traditional owners and uphold the values and principles developed by the Uranium Industry Framework, which reported last year and recommended the expansion of uranium mining under strict safeguards.

"With these safeguards nuclear energy can and should be part of the long-term solution for our energy needs and a lower emission future," the minister said.

"The Government believes that it will be the Australian people who will judge whether nuclear energy is suitable for our nation and that such a decision should be based on facts, not scare campaigns."

Mr Macfarlane used the conference to announce that Geoscience Australia, the Government's minerals and petroleum research arm, would for the first time release historical data on uranium exploration reports and drill hole data on the Angela uranium deposit in the Northern Territory.

The Angela deposit, 25km south of Alice Springs, was discovered in 1973 and extensively drilled by German group Uranerz Australia in 1989, under joint venture with MIM.

It is estimated to contain about 11,500 tonnes of U3O8, at 0.13percent, spread over several kilometres in sandstone.

The Angela deposit lies above the aquifer from which Alice Springs draws its town water supply.

The tenement licence passed to Uranium Australia, which in 1998 announced it had no plans to develop the Angela deposit because of economics and the ALP's three mines policy -- overturned earlier this year.

Mr Macfarlane said Geoscience Australia was currently considering options for the release of further historical uranium exploration covering material originally submitted ton the Australian Government by exploration companies, mainly between 1975 and the early 1990s.