bhp might loose uranium lease

This (art) could be very interresting with regard to CAZ claim and deal done with BHP

PMA slaps claims on Yeelirrie

MICHAEL WEIR

Mining promoter Roderick Smith, fresh from taking on Swiss mining giant Xstrata over the demolished Windimurra vanadium project, has now set his sights on BHP Billiton by launching a claim over its big Yeelirrie uranium deposit near Sandstone.

Mr Smith confirmed yesterday that his Precious Metals Australia had lodged plaints over 185 tenements covering Yeelirrie's entire 9km strike length of uranium and vanadium.

But BHP Billiton is not giving up WA's biggest uranium deposit - inherited through its $9.2 billion takeover of WMC Resources - without a fight and is seeking State Government backing as it fights to retain the tenements.

Mr Smith told WestBusiness yesterday no work had been done on the ground for more than 20 years.

"Our impression is the current owners are not interested in the ground and don't want it and we'd like to have a chance to explore it and exploit it if possible," he said.

PMA's move comes just three months after fellow junior Mindax Resources slapped an exploration licence application over part of BHP Billiton's Yeelirrie deposit.

Mindax chief executive Greg Bromley said that application remained "in a state of suspended animation" after being referred from the Meekatharra Warden's Court to Perth.

"I'm not expecting a lot to happen until February," he said.

Mindax lodged its application to test the status of the Yeelirrie leases in the wake of a deal between the State Government and WMC last year to scrap a 1978 State Agreement originally implemented to facilitate the site's development.

In March last year, the Government said WMC would agree to the termination of the State Agreement as soon as rehabilitation of the formerly polluted site was complete. WMC intended to retain the tenements.

Mr Smith acknowledged that little could be done with the ground under the existing State Labor Government policy banning uranium mining.

"But we believe there is a valuable State resource that is not being exploited and we believe that the policy of the Government is that resources available for exploitation should be exploited, if it's in the community's interests," he said.

PMA had already proposed a $1 million budget to explore the Yeelirrie ground.

Mr Smith said PMA's move was not intended to be aggressive and the company was not looking for a dispute with BHP Billiton.

"We certainly don't have any beef with BHP and are more than happy to talk with them at any stage about their plans for the ground," he said.

"But in the meantime there has been a lot of over-pegging at Yeelirrie and it seems to be the view of others that the ground might become available."

A BHP Billiton spokesman said the flagship Olympic Dam project in South Australia remained the company's uranium focus and there were no plans to develop Yeelirrie given the existing State Government policy.

"Our interest is in retaining the tenements and BHP is continuing those discussions with the WA Government," he said.