Bleak prospects for Australian uranium miners: most States and ACT ban uranium mining
Olga Galacho reports in the Herald Sun , 19 Dec “….In Western Australia, a pro-uranium conservative government faces a Labor Opposition that wants the mining banned. It is in WA that Toro will next year begin extracting uranium for the first time in that state from its $300 million Wiluna mine.
In Queensland, a state Labor government opposes uranium mining, unlike the Labor governments in South Australia and the Northern Territory.
In NSW and Victoria, freshly elected conservative governments have maintained their Labor predecessors’ ban on uranium
exploration……”It takes two election cycles to get a uranium operation up and running and in Australia, this is considered too high a political risk.”…..”
South Australian government silent on Aboriginal Heritage Act, and its implications for uranium mining
The Government, however, remains silent on its responsibility in implementing the requirements of the Aboriginal Heritage Act,
“The traditional owners”.. are not even named in this news release.
The traditional owner group, known as the Yura Language Consultative Group, is disappointed the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs has failed to investigate its requests for a ministerial determination over the Beverley Four Mile and Mt Gee area as being culturally significant and intimately connected, despite a legal obligation to do so under the SA Aboriginal Heritage Act.
Marsh: Cultural significance snubbed, The Advertiser, by:Jillian Marsh December 14, 2011 http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/marsh-cultural-significance-snubbed/story-e6freai3-1226221235838 THE news release entitled “Arkaroola to be protected forever” by the SA Government’s pledging a commitment of “unprecedented protection” is welcome news. This protection, on the basis of a comprehensive three-step process, is particularly welcome for traditional owners – members of the Adnyamathanha community.
This announcement follows the persistent public outcry over the past few years over exploration leases being granted in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary and, in particular, Mt Gee. Despite a shift in state political agencies towards a more sympathetic view of conservation concerns, all political parties remain hesitant in acknowledging the cultural significance of this region for the traditional owners. Continue reading
Australian uranium companies in Namibia – uranium turning into a “lame duck”
After Fukushima, suddenly the expected darling of local mining investment, has turned into a pariah. Both the Areva and Marenica statements refer to events after Fukushima, highlighting the uncertainty that has entered the industry since the nuclear disaster in Japan……
Perhaps it is a case of both Kalahari Mineral and Extract Resources taking what they can get and opting out of an industry that is fast turning into a lame duck. [or a dead cat – I haven’t got a picture of a lame duck]
Namibia Economist 16 Dec 11 When three major players in one industry, all announce substantial shifts in strategy and/or focus in a very short span, it signals a fundamental change in the underlying assumptions. These past two weeks saw one surprise after another as first Extract Resources, then Marenica, and finally Areva announced a dramatic turn in their strategies which probably points to a change of heart and a significant reappraisal of prospects and strategies. Continue reading
Ziggy Switkowski spruiks for Australian uranium sales to Pakistan
Pakistan a potential uranium customer, says Australian nuclear expert, The Nation, 6 Dec 11 An Australian nuclear expert Dr Ziggy Switkowski said that Australia will have to consider selling uranium to Pakistan in the future after agreeing to export it to India…..over time, as they gain the confidence of the international community and the civilian nuclear program builds, they will need to be considered.”
Earlier, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Australia, Abdul Malik Abdullah said if Australia is willing to export uranium to India then it should sell it to Pakistan as well.
Abdullah said, “If Australia is going to lift the ban on a country which has not signed NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) it is much hoped that will also apply to Pakistan the same way.” Australia’s ruling Labour Party voted to overturn a decades-old ban on uranium sale to India, paving the way for Canberra to supply yellowcake to a nation outside the NPT.
Australia’s uranium policy dictated by Washington
the actual reason for the shift, [ to sell uranium to India] which was strongly insisted upon by the Obama administration in the lead-up to the US president’s visit, and which dovetails with Washington’s efforts to promote India as a regional
counterweight to China……..Rudd had incurred the wrath of Washington in 2007 by reversing a decision by the previous Howard Liberal government to approve uranium sales to India, following a similar decision by the George W. Bush administration.
Australian Labor Party to enforce dictates of Washington, financial markets, World Socialist Website By Mike Head 5 December 2011 At its 46th national conference last weekend, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) committed itself to imposing the “hard decisions” required by the Gillard government’s unconditional alignment with Washington’s increasingly aggressive confrontation with China, ……
It was the first ALP conference since the June 2010 backroom coup in which Labor’s factional bosses, who had reported their preparations to the US embassy, installed Julia Gillard as prime minister at the expense of her predecessor Kevin Rudd. The conference was also convened just two weeks after President Barack Obama’s visit to Australia and the region, in which he mounted a diplomatic and strategic offensive against China. Not a single delegate referred to these developments, yet they dominated the entire proceedings.
Rudd was removed above all because he had sought to alleviate the tensions between the US, the Australian ruling elite’s military protector, and China, Australian capitalism’s biggest market. Upon her appointment, Gillard immediately made clear her unconditional alignment with Washington. She also quickly struck a deal with the three biggest mining companies to drop the Rudd government’s proposed mining super-profits tax,…. Continue reading
Labor federal Member of Parliament’s scathing criticism of change in uranium policy
Uranium decision a ‘moment of madness’ ABC News, December 05, 2011 Labor’s federal Member for Page says her party’s decision to export uranium to India was a moment of madness. The ALP national conference yesterday endorsed the Prime Minister’s plan to lift the ban on selling uranium to India.
The move sparked some fierce opposition from MPs worried that India has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Janelle Saffin says it was the wrong step to take. “Well I see it as a moment of madness,” she said.
“It overturns about four decades of a principal position that’s been taken in Australia on that issue and I just think it will be hard to implement with the stringent safeguards that have to be put in place.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-05/uranium-decision-a-moment-of-madness/3713358
Nuclear lobby’s power to prevent Australia debating uranium to India, and to promote arms race
ALP downplay arms control considerations, Crikey, December 5, 2011 , by NAJ Taylor “…….The power of lobbyists There are numerous lessons to be learned from the US experience, particularly since the similarities in the way the matter was debated there.
There as in here, well-funded and resourced lobby groups successfully denied Australian’s of a debate, and a complacent and shameful standard of media proliferated falsehoods and empty rhetoric as if reasoned evidence such that even Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd – who as recently as last month strongly opposed any deal with India – begrudgingly toed the line of the party leader given the announcement was made whilst he was in Dehli.
For instance, following the vote, Nitin Pai, editor of Pragati – The Indian National Interest Review, and Fellow at The Takshashila Institution tweeted that:
” Rory_Medcalf And let me say that the consistent policy advocacy by a certain Sydney based think tank surely played an important role…..
What is clear to me is that Australia’s prospects of being awarded a seat on the UN Security Council next year are bound to have suffered already. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/this-blog-harms/2011/12/05/alp-downplay-arms-control-considerations/
South Australia’s Greens leader condemns Labor’s decision on uranium to India
Quoted on ABC News, 5 Dec 11 “..A Greens leader Mark Parnell says selling uranium to India would be dangerous and unprincipled. “This isn’t about climate change, this is about making money, making money for companies like BHP Billiton,” he said.
“They’ve (ALP) sacrificed their principles, they’re chasing the almighty dollar and they’re selling uranium to a country that is nuclear-armed and it’s in conflict with its nuclear-armed neighbour. “Selling Australian uranium to India means that even if they use it all in peaceful nuclear reactors, it will free up their own limited domestic supplies for use in nuclear weapons.”
Labor’s dangerous new uranium policy – but it’s really about career moves for Labor heavies
... Kevin Rudd is filthy with Prime Minister Gillard’s uranium decision and 
thinks India ought to have been forced to make some concessions in return for uranium sales, such as ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. If so, Rudd ought to say so publicly…..
South Asia is a dangerous nuclear minefield. All the more so in the wake of the US-India agreement, and all the more so in the wake of Labor’s decision to sell uranium to India with no conditions which would curb its weapons program or de-escalate the South Asian nuclear arms race.
Labor Signs Up To The Arms Race, New Matilda, 5 Dec 11, Paul Howes might think the Cold War is over but the nuclear arms race hasn’t slowed. South Asia is a nuclear minefield and Labor’s decision to sell uranium to India makes it more dangerous, writes JimGreen….. Of all the idiotic, asinine contributions to Labor’s faux-debate on uranium sales to India, Howes trumped the lot with his assertion that “The Cold War is over and it’s time for Labor to embrace that fact”.
Since the end of the Cold War the existing weapons states have been busily “modernising” their nuclear arsenals: Continue reading
Northern Territory’s Environment Centre condemn’s Chief Minister’s support of uranium sales to India
The flip side of labour’s uranium back flip, 5 Dec 11 The decision at the ALP Labour conference to overturn policy to sell uranium to India, a country not signatory to the NPT and a known nuclear weapon state, will cause havoc for years to come.
While the The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is imperfect, it is the world’s best check and balance against the spread of the world’s worst weapons of mass destruction. Selling uranium to India will weaken the NPT and weaken Australia’s credibility on non-proliferation and global peace issues.
‘It is very disappointing that our Northern Territory’s Chief Minister Paul Henderson has welcomed this decision and seen it as an opportunity to profit. The reality is even if Australia supplied 20% of India’s current uranium demand, uranium exports would increase by just 2% above the 2008/09 figure. Very few if any jobs would be created as Indian demand would easily be met by existing mines.’ said Cat Beaton from the Environment Centre NT.
‘Mr Henderson also seems to forget that the one uranium mine we have is riddled with operational troubles and environmental and social challenges that are not going away’ ‘If the Australian Labour Party was serious about moving forward, they could look at ways to tighten our uranium exports and strengthen conditions around the use of uranium overseas. Instead they pushed forward a decision that will ensure our participation in international political tension and potential nuclear war’ said Cat Beaton from the Environment Centre NT.
Western Australia’s Labor Party would stop uranium projects
Ripper draws battle lines over uranium, The West, 5 Dec 11 Eric Ripper has put uranium miners on notice, vowing that a returned Labor State government would stop their WA projects from going ahead, however advanced.
Sparking warnings from Premier Colin Barnett that the State would be exposed to compensation claims worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the Opposition Leader said any government he led would withhold final approval for the mines.
Mr Ripper’s comments came after the ALP national conference backed Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s push to allow uranium exports to India, 206 votes to 185.
“No Labor minister or public servant responsible to a Labor minister will issue any approval to facilitate a uranium mining project under a WA Labor government,” Mr Ripper said yesterday.
“It does not matter how advanced the projects are – I’m putting the industry on notice, you won’t have your final approvals by the time of the next election and they will not be granted if WA Labor is elected.”…..
no uranium project would be completed or in receipt of final approval by the time of the next election in March 2013…..
India ramps up “China killer” nuclear missiles, As Australia’s Labor government ready to sell uranium to India
India’s muscle flexing comes at a sensitive juncture for Australia, too.
At the Australian Labor Party’s national conference this weekend, one of the pre-eminent agenda items is a motion to end the ban on selling uranium to India.
a new market offering high-grade uranium ore for India’s civilian reactors frees up the country’s limited indigenous supplies for boosting its military program.
India to test new missile dubbed ‘the China killer’, The Age 3 Dec 11, Given the incendiary moniker ”the China killer” by the more sensationalist press, India’s newest nuclear-capable missile will be its most powerful yet, and an unmistakable signal to its neighbours.
Agni V – formally named after the Hindu god of fire and acceptor of sacrifices – is set to be tested within three months. It will be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead 5000 kilometres, meaning it can reach not only Beijing and Shanghai, but all of northern China. India’s existing arsenal can already reach every corner of Pakistan…. Continue reading
Lack of principle in Australia selling uranium to nuclear-armed India, no proper safeguards
The alternative course for Australia is to side with the large majority of the world’s countries who want to re-establish and reinforce the principle that nuclear trade should be restricted to countries that have signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty and take seriously their non-proliferation and disarmament commitments.
We could take a principled rather than an unprincipled approach. We could lead rather than follow.
Safeguarding uranium exports to India Online Opinion , Dr Jim Green, 1 Dec 11 A big part of the PR pitch for uranium sales to nuclear-armed India is the assertion that ‘strict’ safeguards will ‘ensure’ peaceful use of Australian uranium. Sadly, it’s just PR.
The claim sits uncomfortably with the reality that safeguards are based on occasional inspections of some nuclear plants by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The claim sits even more uncomfortably with the observations of recently-retired IAEA chief Mohamed El Baradei that the Agency’s basic rights of inspection are “fairly limited”, the safeguards system suffers from “vulnerabilities” and efforts to improve it have been “half-hearted”, and the system operates on a “shoestring budget…comparable to a local police department”. Continue reading
Toro Energy looking for funds for Wiluna uranium project, but cautious about its future
TORO Energy will consider all project funding options as it moves towards developing Western Australia’s first uranium mine.. Adelaide Now, Christopher Russell December 01, 2011
Mr Hall told the company’s annual general meeting in Adelaide yesterday Toro estimated it will cost about $280 million to build the mine at Wiluna in south-central WA…..
Toro was looking for options to fund Wiluna, which would produce about 820 tonnes a year of uranium….. “In the current climate, the most likely method will be a joint venture partner who takes part-ownership in return for both funding and offtake of uranium….
Chairman Erica Smyth said the company was proceeding very cautiously……”We’re looking at all the options to finance this.” Both Dr Smyth and Mr Hall said the industry had been dealt a severe blow by the Fukushima disaster…. http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/toro-seeks-partners-for-280m-wa-mine/story-e6frede3-1226210632139
BHP Billiton trying to lock in huge new uranium mine by splurging money in advance of BHP Board’s decision?
$1.3 billion is a lot of money to spend on a project that might never come to fruition. It’s a common tactic, 
but one that could come unstuck. But then, I’ve always suspected that Marius Kloppers, Dean Dalla Valle, like many bigwigs might feel that they have plenty of BHP money to splash around – perhaps an old-fashioned case of more money than sense.
The international news is not encouraging for the uranium industry – though I note that Australia’s mainstream media just ignores facts like – the expensive mess of nuclear transport in France and Germany, – the anti nuclear political strength gathering in France, – the huge anti nuclear movement and other nuclear hindrances in India, -and the ever downward price of uranium. – Christina Macpherson
South Australia Parliament approves BHP Billiton Olympic Dam expansion, by:Sarah Martin, Adelaide Now, :The Advertiser, November 30, 2011, BHP Billiton will start spending $1.2 billion on equipment for the Olympic Dam expansion in coming weeks after winning final approvals from Parliament for the deal to proceed.
The head of the company’s uranium operations, Dean Dalla Valle, said the approval paved the way for the $30 billion mine to be SouthAustralia’s economic driver for the next 40 years, but gave no guarantees BHP Billiton’s board would approve the project in 2012. Continue reading
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