SOUTH Australian uranium exports are expected to be worth at least $2 billion a year within the next decade, giving a major boost to jobs and infrastructure, the State Government said yesterday.
Mineral Resources Minister Paul Holloway said the boom in uranium mining, caused by high world prices, would lead to a massive increase in uranium exports over the next 10 years.
Federal Government nuclear taskforce head Ziggy Switkowski this week tipped uranium exports would be worth $10 billion a year.
Mr Holloway said conservative estimates suggested the industry would be worth at least $2 billion a year at contract prices in SA and up to $4 billion valued at current spot prices.
SA uranium exports two years ago were worth about $300 million a year to the state. "It is going to reflect right across the economy," Mr Holloway said. "This will mean jobs.
"Essentially, all those billions of dollars, most of that money will go back to all the suppliers and those groups and distributed back into the economy."
Payroll taxes will significantly increase as a result of the boom adding millions of dollars to state coffers as a result of high wages in the mining industry.
The State Government also has predicted tens of millions of dollars of extra royalty payments will flow into the state within five years.
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