Monday, 12 February, 2007

ABC NT Local News

A hearing has begun in the Northern Territory Supreme Court over disputed uranium deposits in Central Australia worth billions of dollars.

Entrepreneur Norm McCleary was among a group who staked a midnight claim over the Angela and Pamela uranium deposits near Alice Springs last December.

He believes he beat dozens of multi-national mining companies who launched electronic exploration applications, and has taken his case to the Supreme Court.

During legal argument today, lawyers for the NT Government described the case as "extraordinary" and an effort to get the jump on other applications by using a technicality out of the Act.

The case is expected to run for three days.