More on Ben Lomond!!!The Australian
Edition 1 - All-round CountryTHU 15 SEP 2005, Page 005
Canadians gamble on Beattie uranium reversal By Ian Gerard
CANADIAN miner Maple Minerals is set to take control of one of Queensland's richest uranium deposits in a gamble that the Beattie Government will bow to pressure to reverse Labor's ban on new mines.
Maple acquired Ben Lomond mine, near Charters Towers, from French multinational Cogema earlier this year for a bargain $1 million, before Canberra's decision last month to take over the Northern Territory's administration of uranium mining.
The company is waiting for Queensland Natural Resources and Mining Minister Henry Palaszczuk to give final approval for the deal and is expecting an answer in coming weeks.
A spokesman for Maple's Australian subsidiary, UMVI, said the deal had been given indicative approval from previous minister Stephen Robertson.
There are an estimated 4760tonnes of high-grade uranium at Ben Lomond, which has not been active since 1981.
Maple chief executive Gino Falzone said the company had plans to carry out immediate exploration under its 10-year lease, amid expectations there was potential for the discovery of another large uranium deposit.
``Notwithstanding the present political considerations, the company believes that the Ben Lomond deposit has reasonable prospects for economic extraction,'' Mr Falzone said.
While Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria do not allow uranium mining, they have come under renewed pressure this year to reverse those bans.
In May, Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane urged states to rethink their policies amid growing support for environmentally-friendly nuclear energy, China's insatiable thirst for the ore and a spike in the global price of uranium.
Despite being rich in uranium deposits, Australia has just three active mines -- Ranger in the Northern Territory, and Olympic Dam and Beverly in South Australia.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie yesterday said allowing new uranium mines would undermine the state's booming coal industry.
Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche said the state's resource sector was in favour of uranium mining and dismissed arguments that it would hurt the state's coal exports. ``There is, in fact, scope for all Queensland's mineral resources to be exploited,'' he said.
``We don't see uranium as a threat to the coal industry and are hoping that the Government will agree to reconsider its policy position.''
Mr Roche said the Queensland Nationals had indicated they would reverse the ban if they won government.
Charters Towers Mayor Brian Beveridge said the mine was near a tributary of the Burdekin River, from which the town sourced its drinking water.
``On that basis alone, we would want safeguards in place to prevent leaching,'' he said.
``We have a legitimate claim to being consulted and reassured that whatever they did wasn't going to affect us or the environment.''