Large solar system installed at Geraldton, Western Australia
Western Australian Company Installs 100kW Solar Power System http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3780, 7 June 13, Diab Engineering in Geraldton, Western Australia, has gone solar in a big way.
Designed, installed and commissioned by Perth and Brisbane based Infinite Energy, the 99.8kW rooftop system consists of 416 solar panels; plus 6 SMA Sunny Tripower inverters supplied by Energy Matters’ sister company,Apollo Energy.
The array is mounted using an Australian designed and manufactured SunLockmounting system; also provided via Apollo Energy.
Diab Engineering’s installation incorporates a special system that monitors electricity consumption on the site and solar production in real time. Continue reading
Toro Energy’s Wiluna uranium unlikely to make a profit
So how do the economics of the Wiluna project stack up? According to our modelling – based on Toro Energy’s own cost figures ?– not well……
Why Wiluna is worth watching, Business Spectator, Rod Campbell, 28 May 13 What could be Western Australia’s first uranium mine is unlikely to turn a profit unless costs to clean up the mine can be made to disappear.
Our modelling of the economics of Toro Energy’s Wiluna uranium project found that the mine is unviable if Toro Energy has to pay even optimistic estimates for the decommissioning and rehabilitation of the site.
The public and the environment have quite a stake in most mining projects and uranium projects in particular. Not only is it the public’s own mineral resources that are being sold – it’s often forgotten that all mineral resources are held by the Crown in the name of the public – but the environmental impacts of mine closure can be serious if not carried out properly.
Properly cleaning up a uranium mine can be an expensive business, so here’s why the public should be interested in the finances of mining projects – if in 2030 Toro Energy cannot foot the bill, Western Australians will face the unpleasant choice of paying the bill or accepting a degraded, potentially radioactive landscape. Continue reading
Toro Energy flogging a nearly dead uranium horse?
Claims Toro’s uranium project may struggle May 20, 2013 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-20/claims-toro27s-uranium-project-not-financially-viable/4700982 An economist is warning that the first proposed uranium mine in Western Australia may struggle to get off the ground.
The comments are made in a report, commissioned by Greens Senator Scott Ludlam and environmental groups, into the viability of Toro Energy’s proposed Wiluna project.
The study by ‘Economics at Large’ indicates the project’s profitability relies on a number of sensitive factors. The paper’s author, Roderick Campbell, says Toro may struggle to make the project viable.
“The Wiluna project sits very high on the cost curve of global uranium projects,” he said. “It’s difficult to see why any of the major uranium players would invest in this project when there’s a lot of cheaper projects out there.”
Toro has released a statement saying the Wiluna project has won WA and Federal Government environmental approval to proceed after a rigorous three and a half year assessment process. It says, as a result, there is significant market interest from international energy utilities and global resource investors in the Wiluna project.
Senator Ludlam claims the project will just manage to be financially viable if Toro can avoid clean-up and decommissioning costs.He says Toro has not submitted a costed mine closure plan and the numbers are against the company when the cost of the clean-up is factored in.
Toro is yet to respond to that particular claim.
Toro economic report – uncovering the uranium industry bull
20 May 13, West Australia’s first planned uranium mine has been put under the spotlight and found lacking in a detailed new economic 
analysis.
The viability of Toro Energy’s Wiluna uranium proposal has been examined by the independent economic consultancy Economists at Large in a report jointly commissioned by the Anti-Nuclear Alliance of WA and the office of WA Senator Scott Ludlam.
“It is time for Toro to come clean on the full costs of the Wiluna project”, said ANAWA member Mia Pepper. “Toro’s mine closure plans and costs require particular attention as the project’s viability rests on these.”
“In 2013 ERA – the operator of the Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu – estimated closure costs at $640 million. Even if you half that and half that again for this small low grade project, mine closure estimates are still around $150 million – we are yet to hear full details from Toro about this cost.”
The report outlines that for Toro to achieve a positive Net Present Value would require the convergence of a range of external scenarios including low mine closure costs, structural changes in the long term uranium contract price, a drop in Australian exchange rates, cost easing in the mining sector and better efficiency in mining, milling and recovery rates so the project proceeds on time, within budget and without technical snags. The chance of all these factors occurring is very low.
“The Toro project represents risk at every stage”, said Mia Pepper. “It is a risk to the environment at Lake Way, a risk to shareholders and investors and a risk to WA tax payers. This report confirms that the economics of the project are volatile and uncertain – however it is certain that the project will remain strongly contested”.
“From people taking action on country – like the seventy committed people walking through the region in opposition to uranium mining right now – to sounding the alarm in the board room, this flawed mine plan will be contested. The Toro Energy plan has never made sense and this report shows that it also won’t make dollars”.
The author of the report, Roderick Campbell, economist with Economist at Large, is available for comment on 0438503249.
Cameco uranium project meets determined opposition from Walkatjurra Walkers
Walkatjurra Walkabout: Resisting Cameco in Australia http://committeeforfuturegenerations.wordpress.com/2013/05/04/walkatjurra-walkabout-resisting-camecos-yeelirrie-uranium-project/ Kado Muir, Traditional Owner, Yeelirrie
‘Walkatjurra Walkabout – Walking for Country’ is a celebration of Wangkatja country, a testament to the strength of the community who have fought to stop uranium mining at Yeelirrie (Cameco acquired the Yeelirrie uranium project from BHP Billiton last year) for over forty years, and a chance to come together to continue share our commitment to a sustainable future without nuclear. It is a chance to reconnect with the land, and to revive the tradition of walking for country.
“Walking for country is to reconnect people with land and culture. The Walkatjurra Walkabout is a pilgrimage across Wangkatja country in the spirit of our ancestors so together, we as present custodians, can protect our land and our culture for future generations.
“My people have resisted destructive mining on our land and our sacred sites for generations. For over forty years we have fought to stop uranium mining at Yeelirrie, we stopped the removal of sacred stones from Weebo and for the last twenty years we have stopped destruction of 200 sites at Yakabindie. We are not opposed to responsible development, but cannot stand wanton destruction of our land, our culture, and our environment.”
8 May – antidote to uranium lobby lies about the “benefit” to Western Australia
AUSTRALIA’S URANIUM EXPORT REVENUE IN PERSPECTIVE YELLOWCAKE FEVER Exposing the Uranium Industry’s Economic Myths , Australian Conservation Foundation “….In WA, the Liberal National Government’s ‘Royalties for Regions’ policy was meant to use mining royalties to fund schools, health services and other community infrastructure. But $80 million was redirected to support mineral exploration and a significant amount has gone to uranium companies despite the promise that the Government would not fund uranium mining.
This issue was highlighted in the March 2013 state election context when community opposition led to the WA Nationals commitment to end R4R uranium funding…..” http://www.acfonline.org.au/sites/default/files/resources/ACF_Yellowcake_Fever.pdf
Mike Nahan from Institute of Public Affairs – Western Australia’s Minister Against Renewables
Are renewables doomed to failure in Australia?, REneweconomy By Giles Parkinson 3 May 2013 “………Mike Nahan (Western Australia) is an interesting choice as energy minister. For supporters of renewable energy, he’s actually quite a frightening one.
The American-born Nahan is a former executive director of the conservative, pro-market, anti-renewable think tank, 
the Institute of Public Affairs, which is so intertwined with conservative policy making that many Coalition politicians refer journalists to the IPA for comment on issues such as energy and climate.
A collection of Nahan’s thoughts on climate and energy can be found on the IPA website as, like his contemporaries and successors, he was a prolific contributor to (mostly Murdoch-owned) newspapers. They give an interesting insight into his views on all things climate, energy and environment.
In 2005, he questioned the science of climate change. “Not only is the fact of global warming unclear, but a fully honoured Kyoto Agreement would have had only a trivial effect on temperatures,” he wrote in theHerald Sun.
In 2006, in the same paper, he hallelujahed the creation of the pro-nuclear and pro-business Australian Environmental Foundation, which has strong links to anti-wind farm groups. He also praised the expansion of the massive Hazelwood brown coal-fired power station, describing one of the country’s most polluting power plants as “efficient, profitable and clean.”
And, of course, he doesn’t like the Greens, accusing them of being “Watermelons” – former socialists who were red on the inside and green on the outer. He even decried the focus of Environment Day, saying such events should be a celebration of achievements – such as the fact that there were, he wrote in 2004– enough whales to support large whaling fleets.
Elsewhere, Nahan mocks the idea that the planet is depleting its resources, praises Conservative pin-up boy Bjorn Lomborg, and suggests that the global environment is actually improving rather than degrading. He also scoffed at suggestions that the Murray Darling Basin had water or salinity issues – both here and here.
Elsewhere, he dismissed the concept of “negawatts” – the idea promoted by the likes of the International Energy Agency that energy efficiency can play a critical role in decarbonising the world’s energy system, and to save money – as “activist jargon for subsidised energy conservation.” His preferred term was ‘megawatts’ – code for building more coal, gas and nuclear plants and burn as much fuel as possible.
Just in case you thought he might have evolved since being elected to state parliament in 2008, his views of wind and solar remain staunchly conservative, old school and just plain wrong. In a recent parliamentary debate, Nahan insisted wind energy required “one-for-one” backup by fossil fuel generators and did not reduce greenhouse gases, said solar cells were “hugely more costly” than polluting alternatives, and the only “low-cost, baseload, greenhouse-low energy” that existed was nuclear power.
He said Western Australia should consider nuclear power, but conceded they “do not fit the grid, because they are too big; they are too lumpy … our system is too peaky and nuclear would not fit. And then he goes on to suggest that the government should “consider nuclear power for the Pilbara,” which is an even smaller grid…………http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/are-renewables-doomed-to-failure-in-australia-47501
Mining companies the largest leasholder of Western Australian pastoral land
WA land owned increasingly by conservation and mining Science Network Western Australia, 29 April 2013 “The research focused on pastoral country from the edge of the Wheatbelt up to and including the Pilbara, which historically has been held under pastoral leases owned by families and used for grazing such as sheep and cattle stations”—Dr van Etten. Image: Stefan Jurgensen RESEARCHERS say an increasing amount of land in Western Australia is being managed for environmental conservation, however mining companies are the single largest lease holder of what was previously pastoral land. Continue reading
Toro Energy faces a struggle to make Wiluna uranium project economic
Raising the $A269 million to build Wiluna is the obvious challenge at a time of an ultra-cautious stock market and with banking conditions as tight as anyone has seen in decades.
the question of the real cost of uranium at Wiluna because if you add 10% for other charges the $37/lb becomes $40.70/lb and an extra 20% lifts the full cost to $44.40/lb.
Equity investors and the providers of debt finance to the Wiluna project will want to see something far more concrete than investment bank estimates before they provide the capital to develop Wiluna.
Dryblower on the obstacles awaiting Wiluna http://www.miningnews.net/StoryView.asp?StoryID=798350828, 8 April 2013 DIRECTORS and staff at Toro Energy had every reason to pop the corks on a few bottles of champagne last Tuesday when the Australian government provided environmental approval for its Wiluna uranium project in Western Australia, though Dryblower hopes it was just Jacob’s Creek and not Moet.
Keeping the good stuff on ice for a little longer is probably a good idea because even though one hurdle has been cleared Wiluna and Toro have a few more to clear before the serious celebrating can start. Continue reading
Western Australia’s asbestos town – a prelude to uranium towns?
WA GOVERNMENT TO MOVE LAST RESIDENTS FROM ASBESTOS TOWN ABC Radio National 3 April 2013 By:Catherine Van Extel The West Australian Government is looking to move a group of residents who continue to live in the deadly asbestos mining town of Wittenoom, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. But while there are moves to finally clean up the toxic site, many continue to face the legacy of their time spent growing up in or visiting the notorious town.
The 1990 Midnight Oil song ‘Blue Sky Mine’ was inspired by Wittenoom and its deadly mining industry. It’s estimated that more than 20,000 people lived at Wittenoom before the mine closed in 1966.
Asbestos-related diseases have killed more than 2000 former workers and family members of Wittenoom, a death toll that continues to rise.
In 2007, the state government withdrew Wittenoom’s town status—disconnecting services like water and electricity—but a small group of residents stayed. Now the government wants them out in order to remediate the contaminated site. Continue reading
Impossible job of Western Australian uranium mine – given to Vanessa Guthrie?
Women call shots at U-miner Nick Butterly Canberra, The West Australian April 3, 2013,
Dr Guthrie is managing director of Toro and Dr Smyth is its non-executive chairman.
Dr Guthrie acknowledged it was unusual for a miner to have both a female chief executive and a chairman…..
Dr Smyth said the fact a mining company headed by two women was succeeding showed how the resources industry was changing and stereotypes were being broken down. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/16515070/women-call-shots-at-u-miner/
Christina’s comment – “Oh yeah! – more like the stereotype of giving the impossible jobs to women!”
Wiluna uranium scheme means high risk, no reward for Western Australia
Burke’s blunder on Wiluna uranium scheme 2 April 2013. The Australian Greens strongly condemned today’s decision of Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke to allow the mining of uranium in Wiluna, Western Australia.
The Greens nuclear policy spokesperson, Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam, (left) said the approval showed Labor could not be trusted to protect the environment or public health.
“Today marks the beginning of the campaign to stop Toro, and the Greens will remain a strong voice to prevent the expansion of uranium mining around Australia. With the government’s abandonment of environmental protection, the Greens will target the investment community to ensure that investors continue to shun this unwanted industry.
“While the Minister has placed 36 conditions on the approval, there is simply no safe way to mine uranium on a lake bed that floods. This is a rookie company with no operating mines. The WA Government got it badly wrong and the Federal Government just blew its chance to fix this mess.
“Under new mine closure guidelines, Toro has to find 100% of the mine closure cost, around $150 million, before it has raised the $300 million to open it. With uranium prices plummeting by more than two thirds since its peak in 2007, it is highly unlikely that Toro can open, maintain and close a mine abiding by the necessary conditions and environmental standards.
“150 nuclear power plants are scheduled for closure without replacement in Europe alone. Toro’s business case is based on wildly unrealistic assumptions, including the projection that the US dollar will suddenly strengthen against the Australian dollar. Tony Burke is placing our environment and public health at huge risk for precious little prospective reward.
“Australian uranium was in the four reactors of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan. After more than two years, large areas of Japan are toxic and 160,000 people remain evacuated from their homes. It is time Australians got out of this industry.”
Toro Energy’s Wiluna uranium project is looking very vulnerable and unceratin
WA Should Leave Its Uranium In The GroundNew Matilda By Dave Sweeney, 6 March 13, “…….Toro Energy — a small and unproven uranium company — is seeking to open WA’s first uranium mine near Wiluna in the East Murchison region, around 600 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie. Toro has no proven corporate mining experience, and their costly and controversial project and is facing strong community, political and civil society opposition.
Toro Energy’s major shareholder, OZ Minerals, has described Toro as “a tiny company” and a “non-core asset” and Toro is facing severe financial constraints. The proposed Wiluna uranium mine is on the Lake Way arid zone lake system which includes mulga and acacia shrub land and sand dunes and spinifex plains. It is also home to a number of unique and endemic groundwater dependent plants and animals.
Despite attracting over 2000 formal public objections, state government support has seen the mine fast tracked through the state environmental approval process.
Even so, Toro’s hopes to have the project approved ahead of the state election have now stalled. Federal environment Minister Tony Burke has extended his decision-making time and requested further information on how the mine would impact on precious regional water resources and manage its radioactive mine wastes.
Given the clear policy difference between the two major political parties on whether the uranium trade has any place in the West, this lack of full and final state and federal approval means the Toro project is even more vulnerable and uncertain…… Continue reading
Robin Chapple and Kado Muir for Western Australian Senate!
A Vote for Robin Chapple is a Vote for Kado Muir http://www.kadomuir.com/post/44538974329/a-vote-for-robin-chapple-is-a-vote-for-kado-muir#disqus_thread In this State election I am running as a number two candidate to Robin Chapple for the vast upper house electorate of Mining and Pastoral. The Mining and Pastoral region encompasses an area of 2,280,730 km2, stretching from the sea cliffs of the Great Australian Bight to the monsoon forests of the Kimberley. The region contains five electoral districts – Eyre, Kalgoorlie , Kimberley, Northwest and Pilbara.Robin has been representing the Greens in the Upper House for the last four years; during that time he has been a strong voice for Aboriginal Heritage and Nuclear Free campaigns. In fact it is largely due to Robin that Aboriginal Heritage Act has not been changed to make it easier for developers to destroy Aboriginal Sites!Robin commented on the processes around Lake Disappointment in his AHA review document, Robin also visited Lake Disappointment via the canning stock route with Glen Cooke, Curtis Taylor and the Martu rangers. Robin also visited the Yantakutji waterhole – where Cameco propose to take water for Kintyre and asked personally 69 sets of questions in the Legislative Council of parliament on how the government was failing to protect Aboriginal Heritage during 2009-2012 Looking after country is important for many Aboriginal people in our Mining and Pastoral electorate. I am running to support Robin in this election campaign, and if enough people *Vote 1 for Robin Chapple* I might also get enough votes to be elected along with him. Robin must be doing something right because he’s been preferenced last by all the major political parties on the How to Vote card. We both need everyone in our electorate to Vote 1 for the Greens, Robin Chapple and Kado Muir.
Western Australia- Aboriginal and Community use radio to inform about uranium mining
Active Radio – not Radioactive http://nuclearfree.wordpress.com/2013/02/22/active-radio-not-radioactive/ Aboriginal and comunity representatives have today launched a state wide radio campaign highlighting the risks posed by uranium mining in WA. www.votenuclearfreewa.org
The campaign features a series of advertisements to be played on radio stations from the Kimberley to Kalgoorlie ahead of the March 9 state election that describe planned uranium mining as ‘today’s asbestos’ and condemn the use of Royalty for Regions subsidies to private uranium projects. The ads have been produced by the West Australian Nuclear Free Alliance, a network of Aboriginal, environment and public health representatives and organisations concerned about the long lasting and negative impacts of uranium mining on communities and country.
The ads are set to run on commercial, community and Indigenous radio stations across the Kimberley’s, Goldfield’s and the Pilbara.
“WA has an abundance of clean energy resources and resourceful people, our future is renewable not radioactive,” said WANFA spokesperson Mia Pepper.
“The Liberal and National Party’s plans for uranium mining have been flying under the radar so we have decided to put the issue on the airwaves.” Continue reading
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