Tuesday, 27 February, 2007

The Australian

A MINING developer who pegged a midnight claim on a billion-dollar uranium site in the Northern Territory outback acted outside the law, a court has ruled.

Norm McCleary had been fighting the NT Government to keep his claim on the Angela and Pamela uranium sites, estimated to contain more than 12,000 tonnes of uranium oxide worth up to $2.5 billion.

Crown land reservations on the deposits near Alice Springs officially ended at midnight on December 7, and Mr McCleary claimed he outfoxed at least six global mining corporations and up to 40 other hopefuls when he hammered his pegs into the soil under a full moon that night.

But the NT Government said the Perth businessman had not obtained permission from the mining warden before entering the land and staking his claim.

In the Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin today, Justice Trevor Riley dismissed Mr McCleary's case over the Angela and Pamela sites, saying he "did not intend to apply for an exploration licence".

"I reject the evidence of Mr McCleary as to his state of mind," he said in his 33-page judgment.

"I did not find him to be a satisfactory witness. I do not accept that he believed he only needed approval to enter the land for the physical activity of pegging the land."

Companies who emailed their applications to the Government included Cameco of Canada, Energy Resources of Australia, Uranium Equities, U308, Paladin Resources and Energy Metals.

Two weeks ago, junior mining company Segue Resources bought 50 per cent of Mr McCleary's stake. It paid $220,000 in cash and 2.3 million in shares for access to the deposits.

If he have won the case, Mr McCleary would have also received 7.5 million additional shares and 7.5 million options.

The judge did find the NT mining warden should consider an application by Mr McCleary over another area of land in Alice Springs.