urg::: Canadians gamble on Qld uranium

[Len Kanaar - FoE Sydney]

The Australian

Canadians gamble on uranium
Ian Gerard
15sep05

CANADIAN miner Maple Minerals is to take control of one of 
Queensland's richest uranium deposits in a gamble that the Beattie 
Government will bow to pressure to reverse Labor's ban on new mines.

Maple acquired Ben Lomond mine, near Charters Towers, from French 
multinational Cogema earlier this year for a bargain $1 million, 
before Canberra's decision last month to take over the Northern 
Territory's administration of uranium mining.

The company is waiting for Queensland Natural Resources and Mining 
Minister Henry Palaszczuk to give final approval for the deal and is 
expecting an answer in coming weeks.

A spokesman for Maple's Australian subsidiary, UMVI, said the deal 
had been given indicative approval from previous minister Stephen 
Robertson.

There are an estimated 4760tonnes of high-grade uranium at Ben 
Lomond, which has not been active since 1981.

Maple chief executive Gino Falzone said the company had plans to 
carry out immediate exploration under its 10-year lease, amid 
expectations there was potential for the discovery of another large 
uranium deposit.

"Notwithstanding the present political considerations, the company 
believes that the Ben Lomond deposit has reasonable prospects for 
economic extraction," Mr Falzone said.

While Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria do not allow uranium 
mining, they have come under renewed pressure this year to reverse 
those bans.

In May, federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane urged states to 
rethink their policies amid growing support for environmentally 
friendly nuclear energy, China's insatiable thirst for the ore and a 
spike in the global price of uranium.

Despite being rich in uranium deposits, Australia has only three 
active mines - Ranger in the Northern Territory and Olympic Dam and 
Beverly in South Australia.

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie yesterday said allowing new uranium 
mines would undermine the state's booming coal industry.

Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche said the 
state's resource sector was in favour of uranium mining and dismissed 
arguments that it would hurt the state's coal exports. "There is, in 
fact, scope for all Queensland's mineral resources to be exploited," 
he said.

"We don't see uranium as a threat to the coal industry and are hoping 
that the Government will agree to reconsider its policy position." Mr 
Roche said the Queensland Nationals had indicated they would reverse 
the ban if they won government.

Charters Towers mayor Brian Beveridge said the mine was near a 
tributary of the Burdekin river, from which the town sourced its 
drinking water.

"On that basis alone, we would want safeguards in place to prevent 
leaching," he said. "We have a legitimate claim to being consulted 
and reassured that whatever they did wasn't going to affect us or the 
environment."


© The Australian