Archive for July, 2011

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BHP Billiton having second thoughts on Olympic Dam uranium mine expansion

July 30, 2011

BHP likely to stall Olympic Dam plans: report, Business Spectator, 28 Jul 2011   Analysts are predicting that BHP Billiton Ltd will delay uranium production at the Olympic Dam mine expansion in South Australia as a result of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan and ensuing uncertainty about the future of nuclear energy, according to The Australian.

Olympic Dam, home to the world’s largest known uranium deposit, is scheduled to be expanded beginning next year as part of a $US20 billion-plus ($A18.4 billion) expansion that is subject to company and government approval.

However, plans to boost uranium production by a third from current levels may be halted as uranium demand continues to weaken in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster…..http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/BHP-likely-to-stall-Olympic-Dam-plans-report-pd20110727-K6QRR?OpenDocument&src=hp9

Posted in BHP Billiton, economics, Olympic Dam | Leave a Comment »

Uranium conference in Western Australia confronted by anti nuclear protest

July 30, 2011

Anti-uranium protest in Fremantle, Anti-uranium campaigners have staged a protest outside Australia’s largest annual uranium conference., ABC News, July 21, 2011 “…….Politicians and uranium industry delegates are attending the forum to discuss the future of the industry in WA, which as yet has no operational uranium mine.

The Conservation Council of WA organised the rally, which included Australian Manufacturing Workers Union WA boss Steve McCartney, Greens MP Robin Chapple and Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitte.

The protesters say they hope to draw attention to the decline in the nuclear industry and reflect on the recent tragedy at the Fukushima plant in Japan…

Posted in opposition to u-mining | Leave a Comment »

Toro uranium company manouvers to avoid Western Australia’s royalty payments

July 30, 2011

Toro managing director Greg Hall said he would examine the proposal and consider approaching the government for possible exemptions

State royalty plan hits Toro hopes for uranium project, THE AUSTRALIAN, SARAH-JANE TASKER , July 21, 2011  TORO Energy’s plans to become the first new uranium miner in Western Australia have been hit by news the state government will force the emerging industry to pay a royalty. (more…)

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Australian uranium company keen to mine in Word Heritage National Park, despite UNESCO

July 30, 2011

Australian Mining Company in $400m uranium project in Tanzania, BUSINESS WEEK, 17 JULY 2011 , MARY JOHN, DARES SALAAM, TANZANIA - An Australian uranium mining company, Mantra Resources, plans to build a $400-million uranium mine in the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania within the next three years……. 

“We hope that UNESCO Heritage Committee will not halt the mining in the Game Reserve as it did recently in Serengeti National Park road project, considering the effect of the uranium activities to the environment,” said the analysts.

The Selous is home to huge number of elephants, black rhinoceros, cheetah, giraffes, hippopotamus and crocodiles, amongst many other species and bird life.
The reserve also has an exceptionally high variety of habitats including Miombo woodlands, open grasslands, riverine forests and swamps, making it a valuable laboratory for on-going ecological and biological processes.
Mantra has direct and joint venture interests in a portfolio of uranium exploration tenements in Tanzania.
The prospecting licenses and applications are largely within the highly uranium prospective Karoo-age sediments of southern Tanzania (Mkuju River Project, Mbamba Bay Project and Southern Tanzania JV’s and paleochannel associated calcrete and sandstone hosted uranium targets within the Bahi catchment of central Tanzania (Bahi North Project and Handa Project). ..

http://www.busiweek.com/11/news/tanzania/1377-australian-mining-company-in-400m-uranium-project-in-tanzania

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Australia’s Silex Systems part of nuclear power industry

July 30, 2011

progress hinges on a world-leading uranium processing method called laser enrichment.

The technology has been acquired by a heavy-hitting US consortium of nuclear companies, Global Laser Enrichment, which has completed a testing program.

Heavy weather for nation’s solitary solar-panel maker, The Australian, TIM BOREHAM , July 18, 2011 AS the head of Australia’s only solar-panel maker, Silex Systems’ Michael Goldsworthy sticks to script and welcomes the pending carbon tax and accompanying billion-dollar renewable subsidy programs that will benefit companies such as Silex….. (more…)

Posted in secrets and lies, Silex Systems, uranium enrichment | Leave a Comment »

Protect Australia’s precious Kakadu from uranium mining destruction

July 30, 2011

 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. (more…)

Posted in environment, ERA, in-situ leach | Leave a Comment »

A political plus for Western Australia’s Labor Party – its anti-uranium policy

July 30, 2011

“Campaign Capital director Daniel Smith, who commissioned the polling, said the polling indicates the state Labor Party may be able to exploit the issue at the next state election, after strengthening its opposition to uranium mining at its recent state conference.

“The polling indicates WA Labor’s reaffirmed opposition to uranium mining provides political opportunities in the marginal seats that will decide the next state election,” said Mr Smith.

“Among the swinging voters that will decide these elections, support for uranium mining was recorded at only 28 per cent.”

Japanese disaster hurts WA’s uranium support, Nick Evans , PerthNow , July 14, 2011 ”……PerthNow has seen the results of recent polling put to 400 voters in four government held marginal seats – Riverton, Jandakot, Swan Hills and Mount Lawley – that shows opposition to uranium mining has grown since the Fukishima disaster in Japan.

Almost half the voters contacted by Western Australian Opinion Polls said they opposed uranium mining in WA, with 32 per cent of people saying they strongly oppose the idea.

Only 5 per cent strongly support the opening of uranium mines in WA, with total support running at only 32 per cent…… (more…)

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ERA not likely to go ahead with leach uranium project at Ranger uranium mine

July 30, 2011

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. 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. (more…)

Posted in economics, ERA, in-situ leach | Leave a Comment »

Thorium nuclear reactors won’t save the nuclear industry

July 30, 2011

‘Even if thorium technology does progress to the point where it might be commercially viable, it will face the same problems as conventional nuclear: it is not renewable or sustainable and cannot effectively connect to smart grids. The technology is not tried and tested, and none of the main players is interested. Thorium reactors are no more than a distraction.’

Don’t believe the spin on thorium being a ‘greener’ nuclear option, The Ecologist, Eifion Rees,  23rd June, 2011 “………China, Russia, France and the US are also pursuing the technology, while India’s department of atomic energy and the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council are jointly funding five UK research programmes into it.

There is a significant sticking point to the promotion of thorium as the ‘great green hope’ of clean energy production: it remains unproven on a commercial scale. While it has been around since the 1950s (and an experimental 10MW LFTR did run for five years during the 1960s at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US, though using uranium and plutonium as fuel) it is still a next generation nuclear technology – theoretical. (more…)

Posted in economics, THORIUM | Leave a Comment »

Move to remove protection from Grand Canyon, and allow new uranium mining

July 30, 2011

The Interior spending bill now goes to the full House for approval. If it passes — as expected, on a largely party-line vote — the Senate should make certain that none of the anti-environmental provisions survive in the final appropriations bill. And President Obama should veto any legislation that includes them.

EDITORIAL: Protect the Grand Canyon, House Republicans target a mining moratorium, Register Guard,  July 14, Congressional Republicans are continuing their assault on the nation’s environmental safeguards with a proposal to reverse a recently imposed 20-year ban on mining 1 million acres bordering the Grand Canyon. (more…)

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