Uranium prospects poor, but Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt and Northern Land Council agree on a new mine
NT uranium and gold mine exploration a step closer at Devil’s Elbow near Ranger Mine https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-25/ken-wyatt-approves-new-nt-uranium-mine-exploration/11896844 BY FELICITY JAMES Traditional owners and the Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt have signed off on a new exploration proposal for a uranium, gold and palladium mine in the Northern Territory.Key points:
Traditional owners fought hard against the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory.
The Eclipse Metals project still needs approval from the NT Resources Minister but the company said in an ASX announcement it was confident approval would be granted. The site earmarked for exploration, known as Devil’s Elbow, is within Arnhem Land’s Alligator Rivers Uranium Field and lies 65 kilometres east of the Ranger Uranium Mine. The area has previously been explored and abandoned by other companies, including Cameco in 2008. Rio Tinto withdrew from a joint venture to acquire a majority stake in Devil’s Elbow, according to Eclipse Metals’ most recent annual report. The deal had been negotiated in 2016. In its announcement, Eclipse Metals said Mr Wyatt consented to the licence after a “long-standing” negotiation with the Northern Land Council and traditional owners resulted in an agreement. “The terms of the agreement are quite viable in the current market economy, allowing us to develop the Devil’s Elbow’s full potential,” director Carl Popal said in the statement. “The company looks forward to working closely with the traditional owners and the NLC in making the most of each exploration field from 2020, with bilateral benefits.” Scientist says venture may not be worthwhileThe supervising scientist branch of the Environment Department is responsible for protecting the Alligator Rivers region from the effects of uranium mining through monitoring and research. Gavin Mudd, an associate professor of environmental engineering at RMIT University who sits on the Alligator Rivers scientific committee, assists with this role. Associate Professor Mudd was sceptical about the proposal, considering market conditions and the fact the region has already been heavily explored for more than 60 years. “Sometimes you find something that other drillers and other explorers have missed, but often that’s not the case, it’s actually pretty rare,” he said. “There’s not a long-term prospect there. “I think when you’re looking at the uranium industry globally the future is not bright at all, that’s certainly how I read the tea leaves.” Associate Professor Mudd was sceptical about the proposal, considering market conditions and the fact the region has already been heavily explored for more than 60 years. “Sometimes you find something that other drillers and other explorers have missed, but often that’s not the case, it’s actually pretty rare,” he said. “There’s not a long-term prospect there. “I think when you’re looking at the uranium industry globally the future is not bright at all, that’s certainly how I read the tea leaves.”
But Associate Professor Mudd said Rio Tinto deserved some credit for committing funds to the rehabilitation of Ranger. “They haven’t just walked away, which is often what you would see a mining company do when you’ve got a mine that’s not making money anymore,” he said. |
|
As Gavin says the prospects for increased uranium demand for nuclear power seem to be very poor. If there is an increased demand for uranium I assume that it will be for the nuclear weapons industry which Donald Trump seems to be doing his best to stir up. If this happens then Devils Elbow and Honeymoon will start to producing uranium – in effect for nuclear weapons (including depleted uranium), although this will be strongly denied by the companies and governments involved. Irrespective of where the uranium ends up, since it wouldn’t be produced without increased demand from the nuclear weapons industry then any increased production (including from Roxby) is driven by demand from the nuclear weapons industry.
LikeLike