Olympic Dam uranium mine waste pile – 6720 hectares,150 metres high
BHP’s Olympic Dam uranium mining expansion “……In all it will remove a 350-metre thick layer of overburden and the rock taken out will be transported to a rock storage facility that covers 6720 hectares and will eventually be 150 metres high. By 2050, when the mine has not even completed half its life, the pit will be 4.1 kilometres long, 3.5 kilometres wide and one kilometre deep……” – Robert Gottliebson, Climate Spectator
BHP’s uranium mine project will create a mountain of radioactive wastes
“This EIS shows the company has designed Olympic Dam to leak up to eight million litres of liquid radioactive waste per day. BHP Billiton plans to dump radioactive tailings on the surface and leave them there forever, rather than pay to isolate the toxic waste from the environment
BHP Final EIS & ACF Call to account for Olympic Dam’s international impact -BHP Billiton has released a multi-phonebook-sized environmental impact statement to support its proposal to make Olympic Dam the world’s largest uranium project, but the EIS does not address the risks that go along with Australian uranium when it is used in nuclear reactors overseas.
The Australian Conservation Foundation has challenged the company to re-do its environmental assessment to take account of disasters like Fukushima. Continue reading
Rooftop protesters challeng Australia’s Minister for Coal, er – Climate Change
“Every dollar that goes back to the billionaire coal companies is a dollar that doesn’t go to ordinary Australians or into renewable energy projects.”
Protesters scale climate minister’s roof, Sydney Morning Herald, 
May 16, 2011 Environmental activists have scaled the roof of Climate Change Minister Greg Combet’s electorate office to protest the federal government’s carbon tax policy. Continue reading
Australia’s Minister For Nuclear Energy squashes solar power’s prospects
the budget cuts come as solar policy is in turmoil, as feed-in-tariffs, introduced over the past few years to support the installation of rooftop solar, are set to be wound back or abolished.
Spending, like meters, goes backwards and forwards, Sydney Morning Herald, Paddy Manning, May 14, 2011 The budget was dismal for the renewable energy industry and the Energy Minister just doesn’t get it.
MORE proof ricocheted through Twitter this week that federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson doesn’t ”get” renewables. Continue reading
Uranium – a constantly losing share price with a doubtful future
Risk fallout hasn’t left uranium stock, May 13, 2011, SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Australian-listed uranium firms are sporting heavy year-to-date losses after the recent disaster in Japan, and while investors appear to be slowly returning to some shares, analysts say the risks haven’t gone away.
Further afield, Canada’s Cameco Corp. has seen its stock fall 37.1% year-to-date, while Uranium One Inc. shares are down 19.8% in Toronto.
Paladin Energy Ltd. shares are down 32.3% year-to-date, while Extract Resources Ltd.shares are down 19.6%, and Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. shares are down 55.8%…..“It is clear to us that the market has — quite quickly — adopted a less positive outlook for uranium-fuel demand,” said analysts at Daiwa Securities, writing about recent share price movements.
The losses for the uranium-producing sector were sparked in March, when an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan and damaged Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, leaving authorities battling to contain radiation leaks.
The event raised questions about the future of the nuclear-power industry, with Germany suspending operations at its seven oldest nuclear power plants while it reviews its energy policy. China suspended approvals for new nuclear power stations on March 16 — also pending a review……Rio Tinto Ltd. unit Energy Resources of Australia hasn’t performed so well this month, with shares losing another 9.9% to trade at 4.92 Australian dollars ($5.23) on Friday in Sydney. The firm has been battling flooding at its Ranger Mine in Australia’s Northern Territory.
“To get more constructive on the stock, we would need to see progress being made in tackling the water-management problems and commitment from ERA’s board to progress the underground exploration decline,” said the Merrill Lynch analysts, who have an underperform rating on the shares.
Mega Uranium tightens its second quarter loss to $12.3 million, Winnipeg free Press, : The Canadian Press05/13/2011TORONTO – Mega Uranium Ltd. (TSX:MGA) says it lost $12.3 million in its second quarter, compared to $14.5 million in the same period last year. The Toronto-based mineral resources firm is a development-stage company that isn’t generating revenues yet.
It said the loss amounts to a five cent loss per share, compared to six cents per share in the same quarter of 2010.
During the quarter, the company wrote off part of its properties in Western and Central Australia a and ended an option agreement with Forum Uranium Corp. for properties in Saskatchewan. It said the properties were not prospective and no further work was proposed….http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/breakingnews/mega-uranium-tightens-its-second-quarter-loss-to-123-million.html
BHP pushes ahead with uranium mine expansion: public will not be consulted
Time to move beyond talking: BHP Billiton.Adelaide Now Christopher Russell May 14, 2011 THE public will be engaged, but not consulted, on the Olympic Dam expansion, BHP said yesterday. President of BHP’s uranium sector, Dean Dalla Valle, pledged yesterday to continue talking to the community but said the company had to move on to the next phase.
“The formal part is complete,” he said of public input.
Supplementary EIS released for Olympic Dam mine ABC News May 13, BHP Billiton is today releasing its supplementary environmental impact statement (EIS) for the expansion of the Olympic Dam mine. The 15,000-page draft document was handed to the state and federal governments in December.
It contains the mining giant’s response to more than 4,000 public submissions made to the company’s first EIS, released in 2009.The South Australian Government is expected to make a decision on the development later this year.http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/13/3215970.htm
Namibia: it’s getting harder for Australian uranium miners to exploit the Namibians
| Second mining expo to be held amid fears of ‘nationalisation’ |  |
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| Namicia Economist, by Nyasha Francis Nyaungwa | ||||||
| , 13 MAY 2011 09:41 | ||||||
| The 2011 Mining Expo which kicks off next week in the capital is being held at a time when the mining sector faces uncertainty after government recently declared uranium, copper, coal, diamonds and rare earth metals as strategic minerals. Last month, government through cabinet endorsed a decision that the right to own licenses for strategic minerals will only be issued to a state company. The dramatic shift in policy has caught many investors and would-be investors unaware …..“….the mining sector’s contribution to government revenue is not commensurate with its share to the gross domestic product. Such contribution is mainly through royalties levied on the market value of the minerals. This means that Namibia benefits from its natural endowment mainly through rent-seeking. This situation is untenable” the minister said……http://www.economist.com.na/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23739:second-mining-expo-to-be-held-amid-fears-of-nationalisation&catid=588:special-focus&Itemid=70
President of the Mineworkers Union of Namibia (MUN), John Ndeutepo, says that in order to create a conducive labour environment for workers in the mining sector, there is a need for a paradigm shift…. companies try by all means to prevent its employees from being organised. Some even deny them their rights to freedom of association. It is a proven fact that one cannot make people work any longer; you will need to motivate workers in order for them to perform,” Ndeutepo added.He said that the mining labour sector is faced with great challenges that calls for urgent change. One such challenge is the ability of unions to address labour issues involving contract and agency labour cases. |
Some multi national companies do not even bother to monitor adherence especially when it comes to contractors and they even end up corrupting compliance officials,” he said.
Ndeutepo also called for the recognition of unions in the sector. He said that a lot of companies cannot yet get any returns from this relationship as they view the union as an enemy.—http://www.economist.com.na/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23738%3Aunion-calls-for-a-paradigm-shift-within-the-mining-industry&catid=588%3Aspecial-focus&Itemid=70
Health organisations urge Australian government to withdraw Nuclear Waste Bill
Leading health organisations including MAPW and the Public Health Association have signed a statement calling for a comprehensive inquiry into the production of radioisotopes (including non-nuclear-reactor sources) and the disposal of nuclear medicine, before any action is taken to advance any national radioactive waste dump.
The Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia) has called on the government to withdraw the National Radioactive Waste Management Bill . If passed the legislation would see Muckaty, 120km north of Tennant Creek, as the only site initially assessed for a radioactive waste dump. Continue reading
Darwin protest rally against nuclear waste dump
Traditional owners, environmentalists and trade unionists called on federal politicians to block a bill before the Senate, which would allow a waste dump to be built at Muckaty Station, about 100 kilometres north of Tennant Creek
Nuclear waste dump opponents rally, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), By Jano Gibson, 11 May 11 , A Northern Territory Labor Minister has called on his federal colleagues to abandon plans to set up a nuclear waste storage facility in the Northern Territory. Continue reading
Australia’s “Murdochracy” and the grab of Aboriginal land
The Murdoch press has been the most lurid and vociferous in promoting the “intervention”, which a United Nations special rapporteur has condemned for its racial discrimination….There is an old-fashioned colonial grab of mineral-rich land in the Northern Territory
How the Murdoch press keeps Australia’s dirty secret , New Statesman, John Pilger 12 May 2011 News Corp papers across the world propagate the myth that prejudice has no effect on the lives of modern-day Aboriginal people n his native land, Australia, Murdoch controls 70 per cent of the capital city press. Continue reading
Australia’s Nuclear Waste Bill debated today – despite Strong Local Opposition
“It’s false to claim that the waste dump is purely for medical waste.”..
The National Radioactive Waste Management Bill 2010 was expected to pass through the Senate last night. But the Senate failed to debate the Bill by the time of print. Senate continues today.
Locals reject waste dump, Northern Territory News, CONOR BYRNE | May 12th, 2011 ‘NO’ was the message from an anti-nuclear waste dump protest at Parliament House in Darwin on Wednesday. The gathering rejected a nuclear waste dump anywhere in the NT, especially at the planned Muckaty Station site, about 120km north of Tennant Creek. Continue reading
Australian govt’s Budget – no interest in renewable energy revolution
The importance of the green revolution, the multi-trillion dollar clean-tech industry that the world’s largest companies predict will emerge within the next decade does not seem to register in our policy-making.
BUDGET 2011: Lean on clean,CLIMATE SPECTATOR, Giles Parkinson, 11 May 2011, This was not a good budget for the clean energy industry.
A whole host of schemes were either cut, closed, recycled or pushed back beyond current spending horizons. Some of the measures were expected, or even warranted. Others reflect that Australia finds it hard to see itself as an innovator and developer of new technologies. Continue reading
Northern Territory Labor Minister joins anti nuclear waste dump rally
Nuclear waste dump opponents rally, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), By Jano Gibson, 11 May 11 , A Northern Territory Labor Minister has called on his federal colleagues to abandon plans to set up a nuclear waste storage facility in the Northern Territory. Member for Barkly Gerry McCarthy was one of about 50 people who staged an anti-nuclear dump protest outside Parliament House in Darwin this afternoon.
Mr McCarthy says a federal court challenge to the Muckaty Station nomination shows the site is in dispute among Aboriginal clan groups and the nomination should be withdrawn.
Traditional owners, environmentalists and trade unionists called on federal politicians to block a bill before the Senate, which would allow a waste dump to be built at Muckaty Station, about 100 kilometres north of Tennant Cree……this is an issue for Australia and Australia’s first nuclear waste management facility.”
Lorna Fejo told the crowd she was a traditional owner from the Muckaty Station area and she was against a waste dump.
“I am a traditional owner of Muckaty by acceptance to the land, the law and the culture, and I say no to Muckaty being used as a dump,” she said.
Nuclear waste dump opponents rally – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Hidden under Budget news, Australian govt sneaks in Radioactive Waste Bill
Nuclear debate shrouded in budget, Sky News May 10, 2011 The Greens suspect the Senate nuclear waste debate was timed intentionally to coincide with the federal budget. Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said legislation to set up Australia’s first nuclear waste dump at Muckaty Station, near Tennant Creek, was listed for debate in the Senate on Tuesday, when the federal budget will be handed down.
‘It’s a sign that the government’s got something to hide … it’s curious timing,’ he told AAP. Continue reading
Coming to Australia – Glencore – a company some see as rotten to the core
From Wikipedia “Glencore’s history reads like a spy novel“.[6] The company was founded as Marc Rich & Co. AG in 1974 by now-billionaire commodity trader Marc Rich, who was charged with tax evasion and illegal business dealings with Iran in the U.S., but pardoned by President Bill Clinton in 2001.[7] He was never brought before U.S. justice before his pardoning, therefore there was never a verdict on these charges….
Dealings with “rogue states”
ABC Radio reported that Glencore “has been accused of illegal dealings with rogue states: apartheid South Africa, USSR, Iran, and Iraq under Saddam Hussein“, and has a “history of busting UN embargoes to profit from corrupt or despotic regimes”.[6] Specifically, Glencore was reported to have been named by the CIA to have paid $3,222,780 in illegal kickbacks to obtain oil in the course of the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq.
… Investments in Colombia
Moreover, Swiss public television (TSR) reported in 2006 that allegations of corruption and severe human rights violations were being raised against Glencore on account of the alleged conduct of its Colombian Cerrejón mining subsidiary. Local union president Francisco Ramirez was reported to have accused Cerrejón of forced expropriations and evacuations of entire villages in order to enable mine expansion, in complicity with Colombian authorities.
Glencore goes in where others fear to tread, Dan Fortson, THE AUSTRALIAN The Australian May 09, 2011 “….To convince investors to buy in, Glencore had to bare all. Last week, it issued a 1600-page prospectus that for the first time revealed the full extent of its empire.
…. It makes for some uncomfortable reading: Continue reading
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