Post by
piltech on Feb 25, 2005 1:03pm
Western Australian election tomorrow...
"The West Australian Liberal Party said it would allow uranium mining if it wins the February 26 election, and would look at applications for mining leases on a case-by-case basis."
source: https://theaustralian.com.au
Gallop standing alone on uranium
By David King
16 February 2005
WEST Australian Premier Geoff Gallop has become increasingly isolated within the Labor Party over his opposition to uranium mining.
Federal Labor leader Kim Beazley gave cautious support yesterday for the export of yellowcake to China and said guidelines needed to be established for its use.
Mr Beazley said he would support such exports but "not without a very firm agreement on all the issues in relation to proliferation".
"If all those agreements are put in place then it is a market for us," Mr Beazley said.
The Howard Government announced last year that it would pursue a bilateral agreement with China that could pave the way for uranium exports to the emerging superpower.
Federal Labor resources spokesman Martin Ferguson this week backed the Howard Government's efforts to export uranium to China.
He said Australia maintained controls to ensure Canberra remained in command of the uranium supply.
The Gallop Government opposes the mining of uranium and has declared Western Australia off limits.
"There's no way that my Government will accept uranium mining in Western Australia," Dr Gallop said yesterday.
"It doesn't matter who's in power in Canberra.
"We have a clear policy here to have no uranium mining ... and that's going to be our approach."
Dr Gallop said the export of uranium from other states was a separate issue.
"The question of whether the uranium comes from some existing mines over East is a separate one,"
he said.
The Gallop Government banned uranium mining in 2002 and has declared its opposition to the uranium fuel cycle.
All mining leases issues since 2002 have specifically banned uranium mining, although exploration is still allowed. West Australian Labor cites the safety of workers and the need to store radioactive waste as reasons for its opposition to uranium mining.
"Once you export the uranium there's the whole question of the waste,' Dr Gallop said.
"We've legislated not to have any nuclear waste here in Western Australia.
"The pressure will develop for us to have a nuclear waste dump, and I'm totally opposed to it."
Western Australia has at least three uranium deposits which could be commercially viable: Rio Tinto's Kintyre deposit in the Pilbara, WMC Resources' Yeelirrie deposit near Leonora and Paladin Resources' Manyingee deposit in the Carnarvon Basin.
The West Australian Liberal Party said it would allow uranium mining if it wins the February 26 election, and would look at applications for mining leases on a case-by-case basis.
There are three operating uranium mines in Australia: Rio Tinto's Ranger mine in the Northern Territory, WMC's Olympic Dam in South Australia and the Beverley deposit in northeastern South Australia owned by US-based General Atomics.
The use of Australia's vast uranium resources has come under the spotlight after Swiss-based mining giant Xstrata launched an $8.4billion take-over bid for WMC.
WMC's Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine contains one-third of the world's known uranium.
The price of uranium has soared in the past year.
Uranium fetched less than $US7 per pound ($20 per kilogram) in 2001, but spot prices are now about $US21 per pound and are expected to remain high as global stockpiles run down.
Comment by
canada7 on Feb 27, 2005 11:52pm
What is going on? MPM does not have uranium mine in Australia. Some one intends to provide false information.