In fact, both States  prohibit uranium mining.   New South Wales has recently allowed uranium exploration only.

THE HINDU 4 May 2012,   reports that  New South Wales Minister for Resources and Energy and Central Coast Christopher Peter Hartcher announced on Friday that both New South Wales and Queensland State governments in Australia had changed their laws which prohibited mining and sale of uranium.

Also Mr Hartcher is quoted “We also respect India’s decision on not signing the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty (NPT)”  http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3384772.ece

See this article - No plans for uranium mining ban rethink   http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-02/no-plans-for-uranium-mining-ban-rethink/3984350?section=business   By Stephen Smiley ABC News May 02, 2012   “The State Government says it has no plans to revisit Queensland’s ban on uranium mining.”

Queensland Premier Newman has recently reiterated the position that uranium mining is banned in Queensland.

And as for  Mr Hartcher “respecting” India’s decision on the NPT, he is in the minority.  Most Australians are appalled at the idea of selling uranium to a country that won’t sign the NPT.

However – let’s all pounce on the Australian government’s budget plans as the  cause of the delay. (Let’s just forget that the project benefits from all sorts og government exemptions, including the new Mining Resources Tax)

Diesel rebate may delay Olympic Dam Sun Herald, by: By Christopher Russell AdelaideNow May 03, 2012 BHP Billiton could be forced to delay expansion of the Olympic Dam mine if the Federal Government scraps its diesel fuel rebate in next week’s Budget, investment analysts say.

The company hinted at an investors’ conference in Sydney yesterday that another major project, at Port Hedland in WA, would be funded before Olympic Dam. Analysts at the conference said a fuel tax change could make the
difference and cause a delay to Olympic Dam….. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/diesel-rebate-may-delay-olympic-dam/story-fn7j19iv-1226345385388

CD: It’s a real risk across the board for rare earth companies. Each deposit, depending on the type of mineralogy, will have varying grades of uranium and thorium. The jurisdiction the deposit is in and how it approaches dealing with the uranium, thorium and radioactivity will dictate how much of an issue it is for the project. It can be a problem in processing as well. In a lot of cases, the thorium should be removed from the concentrate earlier in the process in order to improve processing downstream. Beyond that, radioactive waste material needs to be disposed of….”

The Medical Association for Prevention of War has released a statement signed by 45 medical doctors calling on uranium mining company Toro Energy to stop promoting the view that low-level radiation is beneficial to human health. Toro Energy, which plans to mine uranium at Wiluna in WA and has interests in uranium exploration ventures in the NT and SA, has sponsored speaking tours by controversial Canadian scientist Doug Boreham. The joint statement notes that recent research has heightened rather than reduced concern about the adverse health impacts of low-level radiation.

TORO ENERGY PROMOTES RADIATION JUNK SCIENCE , Statement by 45 doctors – (signatures at end ) 1 May 2012
Toro Energy is an Australian company involved in uranium exploration in Western Australia, the  Northern Territory, South Australia and in Namibia, Africa. The company’s most advanced project is  the proposed Wiluna uranium mine in the WA Goldfields.
Toro Energy has consistently promoted the fringe scientific view that exposure to low-level radiation  is harmless. Toro Energy has sponsored at least three speaking visits to Australia by Canadian  scientist Dr Doug Boreham, who argues that low-level radiation is actually beneficial to human health.
Those views are at odds with mainstream scientific evidence and expert assessment. For example:
• A 2010 report by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation
states that “the current balance of available evidence tends to favour a non-threshold response for
the mutational component of radiation-associated cancer induction at low doses and low dose
rates.”
• The 2006 report of the Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionising Radiation (BEIR) of the
US National Academy of Sciences states that “the risk of cancer proceeds in a linear fashion at
lower doses without a threshold and … the smallest dose has the potential to cause a small increase
in risk to humans.” The report also concludes that claims that low-level radiation exposure may be
beneficial to human health are “unwarranted”.
• A review published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (US) in 2003
concluded that: “Given that it is supported by experimentally grounded, quantifiable, biophysical
arguments, a linear extrapolation of cancer risks from intermediate to very low doses currently
appears to be the most appropriate methodology.”
It is irresponsible for Toro Energy to consistently promote fringe scientific views and to ignore
mainstream scientific evidence and expert assessment.
Even more alarming is that Toro Energy has sponsored “employee radiation training” by Dr Boreham.
Recent scientific research has heightened concern about exposure to radon, the main source of
radiation doses to uranium industry workers. In 2009, the International Commission on Radiological
Protection concluded that radon gas delivers almost twice the radiation dose to humans as originally
thought and the Commission is in the process of reassessing permissible levels. Previous dose
estimates to miners need to be approximately doubled to accurately reflect the lung cancer hazard.
We call on Toro Energy to stop promoting fringe scientific views to uranium industry workers and to  the public at large.

1 May 2012: Toro Energy promotes radiation junk science
Signatories (all medical doctors working in Australia, or retired from working in Australia):
1. Margaret Beavis MBBS FRACGP
2. Peter Karamoskos MBBS, FRANZCR
3. Hilary Tyler MBChB, FACEM
4. Tilman Ruff MBBS (Hons), FRACP
5. Jenny Grounds MBBS, DRANZCOG, Grad Dip Med Acup.
6. Bill Williams MBBS
7. Rosalie Schultz MBBS, FAFPHM
8. James Rossiter AM, DU Deakin Honoris Causa, FRACP, FRCP Ed, MRCS, LRCP, MMSA,
DCH, DObstRCOG
9. Rachel Darken MBBS, DPM
10. Michael Fonda MBBS, B.Med.Sci, FRACGP
11. Sue Wareham OAM, MBBS
12. Peter Shannon, MBBS, DPM, FRANZCP
13. Jason Garrood MBBS, FACRRM
14. Simon Leslie MBBS
15. Ben Bartlett MBBS, MPH, FAFOEM, FAFPHM, MRACGP
16. Fiona Russell BMBS, FRACP, MPHTM, Grad Dip(Clin Epi), PhD
17. Megan Passey B.Med (Hons), MPH, MSc, DipFP
18. Ken Harvey MBBS, FRCPA
19. Sandra Thompson BSc(Med), MBBS, MPH, PhD, Grad Dipl Management
20. Marion Carey MBBS (Hons.), MPH, FAFPHM, FRSPH
21. George Crisp MBBS, MRCGP
22. Harry Cohen AM, MBBS, FRACOG
23. Heath Kelly MBBS, Bsc, MPH, FAFPHM
24. Catherine Silsbury MBBS, MHSc, FAChAM
25. Colin D. Butler BMedSci(Hons), BMed, DTM&H, MSc(epi), PhD
26. Peter Tait MBBS, DipRACOG, FRACGP, MClimChng, MPHAA
27. Stephen Connor MBBS, MPH, BPharm (Hons), MRPharmS, Dip.Clin. Pharm
28. Chris Wright MBBS, FRACP, FCICM
29. Bobby Sundaralingam MBBS, FRANZCR, ANZSPNM, BSc
30. Frederick Mendelsohn AO, MD, PhD, FRACP, FAA,
31. Sally Attrill MBBS, B.Med.Sci., FRACGP, DRANZCOG
32. Elizabeth Moore MBBS
33. Ruth A. Mitchell BMBS, BA, BSc
34. Janet Bodycomb BSc, MBBS, FRACGP
35. Adam Badenoch BSc BMBS
36. Kristen Pearson MBBS, FRACP
37. Jane Ralls MBBS MRCGP (UK)
38. Tom Keaney MBBS
39. Peter Markey BMBS, DA, DRCOG, DTM&H, MPH, FAFPHM
40. Alison Creagh MBBS, DRANZCOG
41. Linda Selvey MBBS(Hon), PhD
42. Lucy Owen MBBS
43. Kate Jackson MBBS, DTM+H, FRCA, FAChPM (RACP), FFPMANZCA
44. Lisa Bohlscheid MBBS, FRACGP
45. Miriam Brooks MBBS, FRACGP

“ANFA members fully support Uncle Kevin and admire his stand for country. We know that history will be the fairest judge of this struggle. BHP and the minister who approved the expansion of Olympic Dam will be forever linked to the toxic legacy of this mine, for thousands of years to come,” said Larrakia woman Donna Jackson, co-chair of ANFA.

“The court decided that Kevin Buzzacott had standing to pursue this challenge, as is his right under both the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act and the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act,” said ANFA Committe member Nectaria Calan. “Where does this leave the right to judicial review of such projects if those who seek such a review are then punished with costs?”

Dean Della Vale, president of BHP’s Uranium Customer Sector Group which is responsible for the Olympic Dam project, is a founding member of the Australian Uranium Associations Indigenous Dialogue Group, established to facilitate dialogue with traditional owners.

“BHP  pursuing costs undermines any claims by the Indigenous Dialogue Group that they are seeking to engage with aboriginal communities in good faith. Aboriginal communities do not have the right to say no to mining on their land, and here we have an elder using one of the few legal options available to them to ensure that at least the impacts of the project were properly considered, and they may be facing a massive bill for doing so,” said Ms Calan.

“The message BHP are sending is that there are repercussions for taking on the mining giant. Last financial year the company recorded a total net profit of US$23. 95 billion – they certainly don’t need the money,” Ms Calan concluded.

On 26 April 1986, a nuclear reactor at Chernobyl in the Ukraine melted down and spewed radioactive materials across Europe and beyond. The human, environmental and economic impacts of the accident were profound and continue.

“Chernobyl literally exploded the myth of the ‘peaceful atom’ and caused many nations to reconsider the risks and costs of nuclear power,” said ACF nuclear free campaigner Dave Sweeney.

“On the anniversary of Chernobyl and in the continuing shadow of Fukushima it is important Australia also reviews and reconsiders the costs and consequences of our involvement in the global nuclear trade as a significant supplier of uranium – the basic fuel for both nuclear power and nuclear weapons.”

Last year it was confirmed in the federal Parliament that Australian uranium was in the failed Fukushima reactor and is now causing contamination in Japan.  However the federal government has failed to act on calls – including from the UN Secretary General – to review the industry.

ACF has called for the federal government to learn from Chernobyl and Fukushima and:

• ·         Commission an independent assessment of the environmental and social impacts of uranium mining in Australia (as recommended in the UN review into the Fukushima crisis)
• ·         Stop selling uranium to nuclear weapon states pending an independent review of importing countries’ compliance with international disarmament obligations
• ·         Strengthen international and multi-lateral initiatives by including specific performance requirements and review mechanisms in new and existing Agreements and contracts

“Uranium is the asbestos of the 21^st Century: like asbestos, the product works, but at too high a cost – and like asbestos Australia will one day stop mining and supplying it. In the meantime we need to step up to our responsibilities and review and address the impacts of the uranium trade. To fail to do so is to fail to learn from the lessons of Chernobyl and Fukushima and to fail to stop the next nuclear disaster,” Mr Sweeney said.

Four Mile uranium mine gets lease Adelaide Now, by: Julian Swallow  April 27, 2012 ALLIANCE Resources and its joint venture partner Quasar Resources have been granted a 10-year mineral lease over their Four Mile project, ending months of negotiations. Mineral Resources minister Tom Koutsantonis said on Friday that South Australia was a step closer to its next major uranium mining development. However, no timetable or funding commitment has as yet been made by the venture partners, who remain locked in a legal dispute……
The minister said that the mineral lease in the state’s far north
allowed the venture partners to develop a mining and rehabilitation
program for the Four Mile project…..

Environmental disturbance would be minimised, he said, by processing
the resource at the nearby Beverley uranium mine which is owned by
Quasar’s affiliate, Heathgate Resources.

The Four Mile project has been beset by legal disputes between
Alliance, which has a 25 per cent stake through its  wholly-owned
subsidiary, Alliance Craton Explorer, and  Quasar.

In March Alliance Resources expressed disappointment when the Federal
Court denied it the access it sought to documents held by Quasar.

It wanted to see books, records and agreements relating to the Four
Mile venture.

In the middle of February the venture partners settled their legal
dispute over a native-title mining agreement covering Four  Mile.

The dispute was about whether Quasar had the right to enter into a
native title agreement for the project that would be binding on
Alliance Resources…..
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/mining/four-mile-uranium-mine-gets-lease/story-e6fredhu-1226341077336

From a share price of $18.22 in May 2009, the stock lost more than 90 per cent of its value to be languishing at $1.15 earlier this year, with the company’s future being seriously questioned. 

Kakadu’s miner for all seasons SMH, Peter Ker April 28, 2012 After three decades as a major uranium producer in Australia’s top end, Atkinson’s company Energy Resources of Australia is about to fill in its massive open pit and return the landscape to something resembling the nearby Kakadu National Park.

In a reversal of the typical path taken by mining companies, ERA is about to go from producer to explorer, gambling its future on the viability of a deposit deep beneath its existing operations….

… ERA has spent the past 30 years digging uranium from a small province surrounded on all sides by Kakadu National Park. The company operates here at the grace of the indigenous community, which has long been reluctant to see any more of its land developed for mining. The NT’s extraordinary wet seasons add another
challenge,….. On more than one occasion, heavy rains halted production for months at a time and threatened [did!]  to spill toxic tailings into the nearby environment. Other operational problems also caused delays, and they unfolded
against a backdrop of decline in the company’s flagship Ranger open pit, now reaching the end of its working life.
From a share price of $18.22 in May 2009, the stock lost more than 90 per cent of its value to be languishing at $1.15 earlier this year, with the company’s future being seriously questioned……

Known as the ”Ranger 3 Deeps” project, ERA will explore a major
deposit deep below its existing pit, which will soon be closed for
business, leaving only stockpiles of uranium to be processed.
Put simply, ERA is transitioning from major producer to hopeful
explorer,….But the wait will be long. More than two years of
exploratory and feasibility work will pass before the company decides
whether to go ahead with an underground mine.
As Macquarie Bank noted recently, that’s a long time for investors to
hold a stock without any clear factor to drive the share price…..
The monster market sell-down over recent years has further complicated
matters by pulling the stock beneath the investment grades held by
many big institutions….. The goal of turning ERA into an underground
miner won’t come to fruition before late 2015, and there will be
myriad environmental, indigenous, government and company approvals to
satisfy before then.  http://www.smh.com.au/business/kakadus-miner-for-all-seasons-20120427-1xqg2.html#ixzz1tNGNVJGh

BHP is expected to make a decision this year on whether to proceed with an expansion at Olympic Dam, a project analysts estimate could cost close to US$30 billion.

In the meantime, the world’s biggest mining company by market value
has been busy shoring up its land position around the project and
further afield in the South Australian desert.

Monday, mineral prospector Minotaur Exploration said it has reached an
agreement to sell five exploration tenements near Olympic Dam to BHP
for 10 million Australian dollars (US$10.3 million).

In addition, since the start of this year BHP has quietly been
applying for new exploration licenses to the east and south of the
mine, including areas in the Woomera, Marree, Leigh Creek and Port
August regions.
Together the applications amount to 10,590 square kilometers,
according to South Australian Government records….. South Australia
has attracted increased interest from major mining companies in recent
times as they eye new deposits with similar qualities to Olympic Dam.
The recent interest comes despite weaker metal prices and worries that
China’s demand growth for commodities is tapering off.

BHP has for many years been working on plans to develop an open-pit
mine alongside existing underground operations at Olympic Dam to
increase production of copper and uranium sharply over the next three
decades.   http://blogs.wsj.com/dealjournalaustralia/2012/04/24/bhp-steps-up-its-olympic-ambitions/