Not at Glyde Point. Not at Middle Arm. Not anywhere!
Friday, 29 June, 2007
by Emma King
ECNT
“The first question is, ‘what will the company be doing with the tailings left after the minerals are extracted?’”, ECNT Beyond Nuclear Initiative uranium campaigner Emma King said.
“Most mines store tailings in large dams on-site. Arafura claim they will be mining a megatonne of ore every year. Of this approximately 17.5% is usable resources – leaving 825,000 tonnes of waste tailings to be disposed of!
“With a level of uranium of approximately 0.02% tonne (Roxby Downs Mine in SA has a similar grade) waste products from processing the ore are inevitably going to contain radioactive elements, including the radioactive gas radon, as well as heavy metals and processing solvents such as sulphuric acid and caustic soda.
“If Chief Minister Clare Martin has ruled out development at Glyde Point, a move welcomed by ECNT, would the project be located at Middle Arm - which is in a storm surge zone and upwind from residential areas?
“A processing plant located in Darwin Harbour raises grave concerns about the effect such a development could have on the health of Darwin Harbour and the Darwin public.
“As well as the problems of waste disposal, ECNT has concerns about the treatment process that may be used at the plant,” Ms King said.
“While claiming that uranium is merely a by-product of the rare earth extraction process, Arafura’s pilot plant is located at Lucas Heights – the centre of Australian nuclear activities.
“Why does the pilot plant need to be located there if the experimental extraction process does not have significant radiation issues?”
Donna Jackson, director of the Top End Aboriginal Conservation Alliance (TEACA) added: “There has been no discussion with the traditional owners of Darwin – the Larrakia people – about this project.
“We have no adequate safety plans for a potential accident in Darwin Harbour.”