Uranium ban upsets traditional owners too Email Print Normal font Large font AdvertisementAugust 28, 2008 Page 1 of 2 The Martu people in WA have a deal and are keen to mine.
MINERS are not the only people questioning the wisdom of the legislative ban on uranium mining proposed by the West Australian Premier, Alan Carpenter.
Some traditional land owners also seem to be keen to see the economic benefits.
The Martu people, who hold the native title rights to the large Kintyre deposit which Rio Tinto recently sold to Cameco and Mitsubishi for $US495 million ($574 million), said yesterday that they opposed the ban.
"By proposing to ban uranium mining, the Premier and State ALP Government is effectively robbing one of the most poor and disenfranchised people in this country of the right to earn a living and potentially achieve an equity stake in a major mining project," the Western Desert Lands Council said on behalf of the Martu people.
Details of the deal between the Martu and Kintyre's new owners have not been disclosed, but there is speculation a landmark agreement has been struck, giving the Martu a right to earn a 20 per cent equity stake in the project.
Uranium explorers in WA have longed scratched their head over the logic of the state's anti-uranium mining policy.
When former premier Geoff Gallop retired in 2006, the price of uranium stocks rose immediately and miners were optimistic that Carpenter - then thought to be more pragmatic about the issue - would change the policy as he headed into the next election.
Now any hope of mining would seem dashed, given expectations of a Carpenter victory
