Costly problems, legal battles, face owners of Four Mile uranium mine
Four Mile mine opens amid tensions between owners, World Nuclear News, 26 June 2014 The Four Mile uranium mine in South Australia was officially opened on 25 June, but its minority owner wants to sell its stake and is preparing a legal battle against the project operator…….EdwardSterck, a senior mining analyst at London-based BMO Capital Markets, said he did not think there was “any huge significance” in the opening of Four Mile. “It appears that they are using the existing Beverley plant which suggests that production from Four Mile is replacing production at Beverley,” Sterck told World Nuclear News.
Quasar Director Dave Roberts said there is remaining ore at the Beverley mine that “can and will be” extracted at a future point in time. “But today, we are dedicating the full processing capacity of Beverley to the production of Four Mile uranium,” Roberts said during TV coverage of the opening ceremony.
ACE’s parent company Melborne-based Alliance Resources announced last week it had appointed Deloitte Corporate Finance to lead the sale of its 25% stake in the project. Alliance said the sale would “free up funds” for the company to develop its exploration portfolio.
In the meantime, the court case is looming for ACE’s 2010 filing against Quasar Resources – on the basis of “misleading and deceptive conduct” – having been set for 30 June.
ACE has said it is “seeking restitution for the 75% interest in the exploration licence for Four Mile, citing, among other issues, Quasar’s failure to disclose information relating to the prospectivity of part of the tenement.” ACE also contends that Quasar, “with the assistance or participation of” its affiliate Heathgate Resources, breached its obligations under the joint venture agreement……..
ACE said in January it had elected to vote against Quasar’s revised start-up plan for the Four Mile project, which would see uranium capture at Heathgate’s Pannikan plant, and precipitation, drying and packing at Heathgate’s Beverley processing plant. ACE said the parties should instead construct a stand-alone plant at Four Mile in order to reduce operating costs. Heathgate Resources, which like Quasar is based in Adelaide, is the owner and operator of the Beverley uranium mine in the Northern Flinders Ranges.
First discovered in 2005, the Four Mile uranium deposit is 550 km north east of Adelaide in the Frome Basin. State and federal regulators approved the mining lease for the project in April 2012 and more than AUD 120 million ($113 million) has been invested so far, the government said. The mine’s owners expect to produce up to 1.6 million pounds from the mine this year, it said. http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/ENF-South-Australias-Four-Mile-uranium-mine-opens-amid-tensions-between-its-owners-26061401.html
Abbott now looking sillier on climate policy
Abbott completely isolated by Palmer’s “inconvenient senate” Clive Palmer’s emissions trading announcement effectively leaves Abbott completely isolated on climate policy , The Guardian, Alex White, 25 June 14 Clive Palmer‘s shock announcement on Wednesday night next to former vice president Al Gore has been very cautiously welcomed by Australia’s environment movement.
Palmer’s announcement effectively leaves Abbott completely isolated on climate policy, both domestically, and as Al Gore’s presence demonstrates, internationally as well. It is remarkable that one of Australia’s largest coal barons has firmly declared his support for renewables, taking action on global warming, and introducing anemissions trading scheme.
Senior leaders of some of the largest environment groups told me that they welcome Palmer’s position on the renewable energy target, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Climate Change Authority, while approaching the details with caution and a large grain of salt. It was labelled as “definitely surprising”, “very smart politically”, “surprising” and “courageous”.
There are no details behind Palmer’s announcement, and it is unclear what approach he will take with his decision to support the abolition of the carbon “tax” and its replacement with an emissions trading scheme. Palmer also stated that he would not support prime minister Abbott’s “direct action” policy, criticising it as a waste of money.
Kelly O’Shanassy, the new CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation, who is organising the Climate Reality project that Gore is in Australia for, said “keeping the ‘clean three’ of the RET, the CEFC, and the CCA is great news for all Australians. It’s great to see that Clive Palmer has the courage to listen to the voices of Australians when they say they support clean energy and they support cutting pollution.”
Several recent polls showed that a large majority of 72 percent of Australians support keeping or expanding the renewable energy target. Similarly, the polls show that Australians support putting a price on carbon, and just 22 percent support the discredited “direct action” policy.
The Clean Energy Council was effusive in its congratulations. Deputy Chief Executive Kane Thornton described the announcement as “a Titanic boost for the clean energy industry”. Increasing the proportion of Australia’s energy from renewable sources would mean lower costs for consumers and potentially thousands of extra jobs. Kane said in a statement, “what we need is policy stability to unlock these benefits, and the best outcome for the industry is if the policy is left alone to continue working.”
A senior environment campaigner noted to me that “we are approaching Palmer’s announcement with caution, especially on the RET. This is not the first time the Palmer United Party has made an announcement about renewables, only to see it reversed less than 24 hours later.”
What is clear is that Tony Abbott‘s offensive against renewable energy and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation are effectively dead……..
It is clear that Palmer (and Gore) has completely rewritten climate politics in Australia. Why he has done this is not clear, and there are elements of incomprehensibility in what has said.
However, as a political tactic, it could potentially be a master stroke, and consigns Abbott’s almost non-existent climate policy to the dust bin. As Greenpeace’s Pearson quipped, “tonight Al Gore has delivered Tony Abbott an inconvenient senate.” http://www.theguardian.com/environment/southern-crossroads/2014/jun/25/clive-palmer-al-gore-climate-change-renewable-energy-carbon-price
Clive Palmer’s position will prevent Abbott from destroying renewable energy industries
Ross Garnaut praises Clive Palmer’s decision to block abolition of Renewable Energy Target, ABC News By political correspondent Emma Griffiths and Kerry Brewster 27 Jun 2014, The man who helped design Australia’s current carbon pricing scheme has praised Clive Palmer over his decision to block the abolition of the Renewable Energy Target.
Economist and carbon pricing expert Professor Ross Garnaut says the Palmer United Party’s position to vote to retain the RET and other key climate change bodies will have “important” and positive effects. “We’re in a better position than we were before this news,” he told the ABC’s 7.30 program on Thursday. “We’re in a better position than when we were facing abolition of carbon pricing, major tampering with the Renewable Energy Target, abolition of the Climate Change Authority, abolition of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. “It may not be the ideal way of doing things, but Mr Palmer’s support for keeping existing arrangements will have important effects.”
On Wednesday, Mr Palmer revealed his party would vote with the Coalition in the Senate to repeal the carbon pricing scheme if lower power prices were locked in, a condition the Government says it is “happy” to enshrine in law.
However PUP will vote to block the Government’s bid to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Renewable Energy Target and the Climate Change Authority. Continue reading
No future for thorium nuclear energy in USA
G. Bothun · University of Oregon Researcj gaste ( apro nuke forum) 27 June 14However, I think there are 2 practical problems in the US that effectively thwart a thorium reactor future.
1) Currently the timescale to go from permit to actual turning ON line any nuclear power plant is about 15 years (I think currently there are only 2 recently (2012) approved plans coming on line in Georgia and that will take likely another 8–10 years) – meaning that this really isn’t a “bridge fuel” (especially compared to fracked natural gas – which is being rapidly depleted)
2) The whole US nuclear infrastructure is based on handling Uranium. Thorium has much more stringent handling requirements and I just don’t think the US will ramp up an infrastructure to deal with this. Its probably not even wise to do so as those investments are better made in renewable energy and/or carbon capture and storage projects (like the one in Michigan) http://www.researchgate.net/post/Who_is_researching_Thorium_energy?_tpcectx=qa_overview
From 30% to 100% renewable energy in just 8 years – Schleswig-Holstein
German State to Reach 100% Renewable Power This Year http://inhabitat.com/german-state-to-reach-
100-renewable-power-this-year/ by Josh Marks, 06/25/14 Germany recently smashed three solar energy records in just two weeks and set a new overall renewables record last month with 74 percent clean energy use during the middle of the day. Now the Federal Republic’s northernmost — and windiest — state of Schleswig-Holstein is set to generate all of its electricity from green energy this year. The state, which borders Denmark and the North and Baltic Seas, has a goal to generate 300 percent of its electricity needs from renewables.
Related: Germany Smashes Three Solar Energy Records in Just Two Weeks!
Schleswig-Holstein is home to more than 200 businesses in the wind energy sector with around 7,000 employees. As of 2010, wind power in Germany provided more than 96,000 jobs and that figure is expected to increase as the nation commits to phasing out nuclear energy and replacing it with renewables.
While Schleswig-Holstein aims to become the first of Germany’s 16 states to pass the 300 percent renewables mark, a Bavarian village has already blown past that milestone. In 2011, Wildpoldsried produced a whopping 321 percent of its electricity from clean energy, generating four million Euro (US $5.7 million) in revenue by selling it back to the national grid. Via CleanTechnica
Fact checking shows Tony Abbott overstates savings from axing carbon tax
Fact check: Tony Abbott overstating household savings from axing the carbon tax ABC News, 27 Jun 2014 Legislation to repeal the carbon tax is headed for the Senate, where crossbench Senators have indicated they will give the support needed for it to pass. The Government claims households will be significantly better off.
At a press conference on June 23, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said: “Every household right around Australia will benefit to the tune of $550 a year. So this is a $550 a year windfall to every household in Australia…”
ABC Fact Check looked at this issue in 2013. Mr Abbott made a similar comment then, but at the same press conference Environment Minister Greg Hunt was more precise about the timing. That fact check found that Mr Abbott was overstating the case, but Mr Hunt reasonably said the legislation would mean “a saving of $550 on average next financial year [2014-15], as opposed to the current situation”.
As Mr Abbott regularly repeats his claim and Senate scrutiny is imminent, ABC Fact Check investigates again………..
The verdict
Based on Treasury modelling, households will be better off by around $550 in 2014-15 if the current legislation is scrapped. However the following year, when the fixed price would move to a floating price, the estimated impact on households drops to $280.
Mr Abbott’s claim is overstated. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-27/tony-abbott-carbon-tax-savings-overstated-fact-check/5554748
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 