Rum Jungle’s uranium mining gives cancer to a whole family
I was very interested to read your article ( http://uranium-news.com/2010/09/04/deplorable-history-of-australias-uranium-mining-impact-on-aboriginals/
regarding the devastation caused by uranium mining. I have a father, uncle and two aunts who all worked at Rum Jungle in the 1960′s. My father and uncle passed away in their 60′s due to lung cancer. My aunt in her 60′s due to breast cancer and my other aunt who is still with us today has also had breast cancer. Surely this cannot be a coincidence and I would like to know if you have any more information with regards to the health impact that the Rum Jungle uranium mine has had on past workers. – Kirsten Johnson kirstjohn@aapt.net.au
Hey Kirsten,
Am starting my quest for information to make a claim on behalf of Judy, Peter, Kevin and my father in law. Cec Dickinson who died of lung cancer 1979 aged 70, and of course myself. will keep you posted,
Love Aunt Janet Janet Dickinson nee Litchfield dickinsonjanet@hotmail.com
Janet Dickinson nee Litchfield,
I am Kirsten Johnson’s aunt, and sister to Judy, Peter and Kevin Litchfield who passed away with cancer. all having worked at Rum Jungle in the 50′s. My father in law also passed away in 1979, aged 70 from lung cancder, he worked at Rum Jungle for 20 years from 1958. I have just recently been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer which is not connected to my breast cancer. I am starting a program of radium and chemo on Aug 15. I have been told my chances are good. We shall see.
Any other people who have been affected by cancer from Rum Jungle. Janet Dickinson nee Litchfield dickinsonjanet@hotmail.com
ERA scraps acid leach uranium project, but reluctant to close unprofitable Ranger mine
“ERA should be planning a comprehensive clean up of the mine site and beginning an ordered and managed exit from Ranger.”
Kakadu uranium miner scraps acid extraction project, but wants to go underground, Dave Sweeney, 4 August 11, Energy Resources of Australia’s decision to scrap its plan to use a controversial acid leach mining technique at the troubled Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu is an instance of belated commonsense, the Australian Conservation Foundation said today.
ERA has confirmed it will not proceed with a planned mine expansion based around acid leaching, in which sulphuric acid is injected into low grade and waste rock. Continue reading
Energy Resources of Australia makes a loss due to Ranger uranium mine
ERA reports H1 loss because of rain. SMH, August 4, 2011 Shares in Energy Resources of Australia slumped almost six per cent as the uranium miner posted a first half loss after suspending operations at its Ranger Mine on above average rainfall.
The company posted a net loss of $121.75 million for the six months to June 30 compared with a profit of $22.68 million a year earlier, Darwin-based ERA said in a statement on Thursday…..
Volatility in the spot price of uranium oxide was likely to continue until the nuclear situation in Japan became clearer and the outcomes of the safety reviews of nuclear power facilities in China were released….
The company plans to conduct an expanded exploration program on the Ranger Project area between 2012 and 2014 at an estimated cost of $40 million.
Earnings per share were negative 63.8 cents, compared with positive 11.9 cents a year earlier.
ERA directors decided not to declare an interim dividend for the 2011 financial year, after an interim dividend of eight cents per share the year before. No final dividend was paid for 2010…http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/era-reports-h1-loss-because-of-rain-20110804-1icgg.html
A second Australian govt Aboriginal Intervention to provide land for uranium industry
Labor’s next phase seeks to go further in closing “unviable” remote communities, opening up Aboriginal land for exploitation and creating a “work-ready” cheap labour force….. Long-term leases are also being established over Aboriginal land to give open access to mining
Australian government deepens Northern Territory “intervention”, World Socialist website, By Susan Allan , 21 July 2011, The Gillard government last month marked the fourth anniversary of the Northern Territory Emergency Response Intervention by announcing a further intensification of its regressive measures against Aboriginal people. A “second stage” of the intervention will commence next year, when the emergency legislation was due to expire. Continue reading
How the Northern Territory Intervention gets Aboriginals off their land, and uranium miners on to it
It is worth noting that the majority of Australia’s extensive supply of uranium (almost half of the world’s supply) is currently found under Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory, making these lands extremely valuable to the Australian government and mining companies…
Some communities have found themselves forced to travel extreme distances to access a store where the Basic Card is accepted…..This last factor is taking a lot of people off their lands, as they are driven to larger towns in order to buy food and small and remote local shops are going out of business.
On the Northern Territory Intervention, FEMINISTE, by HEXY on 16 July 11 “……..Compulsory acquisition of townships currently held under the title provisions of the Native Title Act 1993 through five year leases, with no appeal process and exclusive rights over all buildings and properties. Continue reading
Time that Australian govts stepped in to protect Kakadu from ERA’s dangerous uranium mining plans
little wonder that Ranger has been hammered by the market and described as Rio Tinto’s ”major shame in this country”…. the cold hard fact remains that no modern uranium mine has ever undertaken large-scale acid heap leaching let alone in the monsoonal tropics surrounded by a renowned World-Heritage site…
The time has come for the Northern Territory regulator the Department of Resources and the Commonwealth adviser, the Office of the Supervising Scientist, to ensure that ERA and the Ranger site addresses the systemic failures in tailings and water management and ends the habit of unnecessary risk taking. .
Need for greater mining rules to protect Kakadu, Canberra Times, BY GAVIN MUDD, 15 Jul, 2011 Plans to expand the Ranger uranium operations pose big dangers. Inside Australia’s largest national park lies one of the country’s most controversial mines. Earlier this year it came close to a serious failure that would have contaminated Kakadu, effectively forever. Now, instead of heeding the warning signs, it wants to expand. Continue reading
ERA uranium miner’s share loss, new project now unlikely
Like the rest of the uranium producers and explorers, ERA’s sharemarket rating has been hit by the fallout for uranium demand expectations from the Fukushima nuclear-power meltdown in March……..Analysts believe that ERA is unlikely to commit to the heap-leach project while Ranger continues to struggle with water-handling issues. The mine is surrounded by Kakadu National Park.
Rio Tinto on fire despite drenched Ranger, Sydney Morning Herald, Barry Fitzgerald, July 14, 2011“…….Water-handling issues at ERA’s Ranger mine in the Northern Territory have savaged the operation’s production levels. In the June half, production collapsed by 65 per cent to 601 tonnes of the radioactive material….
ERA is still a fraction of the company it was in October last year when it shares were selling at $14.78. The value hit stands at more than $2 billion, most of which is worn by Rio as ERA’s 68 per cent shareholder. Continue reading
Australia’s radioactive waste water problem at Ranger uranium mine
the company is not planning to start processing its radioactive waste water for two more wet seasons.
Mr Mudd says a higher dam wall will mean the company will have even more radioactive water to process.
“In that sense it is still the temporary, sort of step-by-step measures,”
Ranger uranium waste water treatment plan attacked, ABC News, By Jane Bardon, 5 July 11 An environmental engineer says Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) should not have reopened its uranium mine within Kakadu National Park last month without committing to a waste water treatment plan. Continue reading
Northern Territory Liberal Party all for French nuclear company against Aboriginal landowner
Mr Lee, a member of the Djok clan and senior custodian of the land known as Koongarra, could have become one of
Australia’s richest men if he had decided to allow Areva to extract the estimated 14,000 tonnes of uranium from its 12.5 square kilometre mineral lease in the area.
NT Opposition supports French bid to mine uranium ABC News 21 June 11 The Northern Territory Opposition says it supports the commercial right of French nuclear energy company Areva to mine an area near Kakadu National Park. By Bridget Brennan and Jano Gibson, 21 June 11
Areva had planned to establish a uranium mine in a small area called Koongarra, but traditional owner Jeffrey Lee has donated the area to the Commonwealth.
The Federal Government now wants to include Koongarra in world-heritage-listed Kakadu. Continue reading
Koongarra’s Aboriginal owner to Paris to save his land
French uranium challenge to Kakadu heritage listing, Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin,The Age, June 20, 2011 ,”………..Jeffrey Lee, the sole member of the Djok clan and senior custodian of the land that includes the 12.5 square kilometre Koongarra project area, has also travelled to Paris hoping to speak at the meeting.Mr Lee, 40, who would be one of Australia’s richest people if he allowed the mine to go ahead, told The Age he wanted to tell the story of his country, which he wanted to see protected forever in the park.”I’ve waited too long for this to happen,” said Mr Lee, who works as a ranger in Kakadu.Koongarra is an ecologically sensitive area three kilometres from Nourlangie Rock, one of Kakadu’s most visited sites.According to Aboriginal beliefs, the land has places where the rainbow serpent entered the ground and a giant blue tongue lizard still lurks.The area also has rock art dating back thousands of years…..French uranium challenge to Kakadu heritage listing
Rio Tinto and ERA’s shame in Ranger uranium mine and collapse of share price in collapse of
the collapse in the group’s share price from a 52-week high of $15 to yesterday’s closing price of $4.68 suggests, there is something very wrong with ERA….Most analysts now believe the development of a heap leach operation at Ranger will not proceed…
Ranger a ride of shame for ERA and Rio Tinto, The Age, Barry FitzGerald.June 8, 2011“……….Bad news is selectively released to brokers and analysts, keeping the dissemination of ugliness to assessments of what it means in share price terms.
That is the strategy Rio has employed with its major shame in this country – Energy Resources of Australia, the Ranger uranium miner, of which Rio owns 68 per cent. Continue reading
Martin Ferguson touts Radiation Register – but half of Australia’s uranium workers are not included
National radiation register for workers Sydney Morning Herald, June 9, 2011For the first time, workers in the uranium industry will have their exposure to radiation recorded on a national database, the federal government has announced.
Federal Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson announced the Australian National Dose Register on Thursday at an International Uranium Conference in Perth……..http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/national-radiation-register-for-workers-20110609-1fu4a.html
Radiation dose register fails Northern Territory, Andrea Hayward May 31, 2011 Sydney Morning Herald Half of Australia’s uranium mine workers have been left off the National Radiation Dose Register, a Senate hearing has heard.
Australian Greens senator Scott Ludlam said it was revealed in Senate estimates that workers at uranium mines in the Northern Territory had not been included on the register.
The workers account for half of those working in the uranium industry….. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/radiation-dose-register-fails-nt-20110531-1fega.html
Legal challenge to Rio Tinto’s tactics in negotiations with Aboriginals
the clans of the Dhurili nation consider that their rights under Australian and traditional Aboriginal law have been breached, and that they have been improperly excluded from the negotiation process.
“Colonisation is still happening today, creating disharmony, by people ignoring due process.
RIO DIDN’T CONSULT US ABOUT MINING: NT TRADITIONAL LAND OWNERS, Australian Mining By Jessica Burke 8 June 2011, Mining giant Rio Tinto has been accused of failing to consult with several traditional land owners over a new lease agreement in the Northern Territory.
The Datiwuy, Golumala, Marrakula and Marranga clans, which make up the Dhurili nation may take legal action against the federal government and the Northern Land Council (NLC), the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
They plan to boycott the official ceremonial signing of the agreement between Rio Tinto and the traditional owners, set to take place in Arnhem Land today. Continue reading
Northern Land Council did not consult Aboriginal landowners on Muckaty nuclear waste dump plan
COMMENT “Real Fella – Anthropologists can effecitvely make up whatever they like to suit their employer. It’s not an objective process. If they go to one Traditional Owner who says its his land, and ignore 20 other Traditional Owners s saying its not, then he can produce a report saying its the land of the 1 Traditional Owner despite all the conflicting evidence. This is exactly what the NLC did in this case, it didnt actually talk to most TOs, and worst it didn’t even show people the report once it was written so that they could confirm it or not.”.
Nuclear dump in question, Northern Territory News, BONNY SYMONS-BROWN | June 7th, 2011 NORTHERN Land Council chief executive Kim Hill has not met with traditional owners of the area earmarked for Australia’s first nuclear waste dump. Continue reading
ERA’s hidden agenda for expanding Ranger uranium mine
Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) spokesman Dave Sweeney says ERA has its eyes on a bigger prize than just expanding its existing Ranger Uranium Mine operations.
“It wants to stay active and in the region and wear people down, and wait for times to change,” he said….
A new report prepared for the Federal Government shows climate change could damage mine infrastructure and pose challenges to its processing systems over the next 60 years.
Mr Sweeney says Ranger Uranium Mine’s location within the boundaries of Kakadu National Park makes it too risky to expand.
Critics turn up heat on uranium miner – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), By Lucy McNally, Jano Gibson and Rick Hind Jun 3, 2011 Environmental groups are warning Territorians to pay attention to a plan by Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) to expand its uranium mine in Kakadu National Park.
They say they believe the ultimate goal of the company is still to mine Jabiluka. Continue reading
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