just on the news, page-6

Think this says it all last sentence is definately what he was refering to. From what he said on the news very similar wording. :) HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS. Surely that had to be a slip of the tounge what he said they will have to release something now.


In opening Paydirt's Uranium Conference in Adelaide, SA Minister for Mineral Resources Development Paul Holloway said the state has led the debate about changing the ALP's ‘No New Mines' policy.

"The Premier (Mike Rann) wants it to change, the Deputy Premier wants it to change, I want it to change, and in recent times you may have read that our Transport & Energy Minister Patrick Conlon also wants the policy to change," he said.

"Importantly, the Federal Party Leader Kevin Rudd has also publicly supported policy change in this area"

Holloway said that in the past 12 months the money spent on exploring for uranium in South Australia has topped $A30 million ($C27.49 M) - that's the highest figure for 25 years.

Holloway pointed to the success of South Australia's PACE initiative (Plan for Accelerating Exploration).

"We launched it about this time three years ago. At that time our exploration expenditure was just under $A40 M ($C37.27 M), which represented 4.9% of the national spend. In 2006, that figure reached $A191 M ($C177.99 M), which is 13.2% of the national spend. Had we just maintained our 4.9% share our total would be about $A71 M ($C66.18 M).

As well as the PACE programme Holloway claimed South Australia has the lowest royalty in the country for new mines - 1.5%.

He said there are about 60 exploration companies and prospectors currently holding more than 200 Exploration Licences for uranium in South Australia - and a growing list of Adelaide based uranium explorers listing, or proposing to list, on the Australian Stock Exchange.

He said South Australia has two and "soon to be three mines" and that assumedly referred to Uranium One's Honeymoon project, for which some mining leases have been granted, or to the rapidly advancing Four Mile discovery by Heathgate on joint venture ground with Alliance Resources, close to the Beverley mine.