melbourne resource roundup, page-29

Uranium mine decision creates uncertainty

Colin Jacoby
Tuesday, 28 September 2010

THE Northern Territory government�s decision to pull its support for the development of a uranium exploration project near Alice Springs has created uncertainty for Australia�s resources sector, according to a uranium group.

The NT government today said it would withdraw its support to establish a uranium mine at Angela Pamela, around 20 kilometres south of Alice Springs, following strong community opposition to the project.

The news comes after the NT government granted an exploration license over the Angela and Pamela deposits to Paladin Energy and joint venture partner Cameco in October 2008.

�We have listened to the concerns and views of the Alice Springs community and there is strong opposition to the mine,� Chief Minister Paul Henderson said today.

�We also acknowledge Alice Springs is a tourism centre and a mine in such close proximity to the town has the very real potential to adversely affect the tourism market and the Alice Springs economy.�

The NT government�s backflip has sparked a concerned response from the Australian Uranium Association.

�The fact that the chief minister has withdrawn support from a project his government has actively encouraged, and whose development is proceeding according to government processes, creates great uncertainty and may give rise to considerable sovereign risk,� the association�s chief executive officer Michael Angwin said.

Angwin went on to say all mining projects, including uranium projects, should be assessed on their merits with government assessment processes designed to ensure this occurred.

�Only when the decision-making process is based exclusively on merit can mining companies, local stakeholders and the broad community be certain that the process is worth having confidence in,� he said.

�In this case the NT government is withdrawing its support for a project that it initiated, even before there is a mine project to assess and before a merit-based assessment process has begun.

�The Angela Pamela project is an exploration project. It is not a mine proposal. There is no decision required by the Northern Territory government.�

�We are aware that some concerns about the project have been raised in the Alice Springs community, yet in the absence of a mine proposal triggering a review process there is no basis for the government to make a judgment about the merits of those concerns or how they might be addressed.

�Departing from this process creates general uncertainty, because if the government can depart so readily from one set of processes, you have to wonder what confidence you can have about Northern Territory processes in general.�

He noted that Henderson had reiterated the NT government�s support for uranium mining generally and for the development of uranium mines elsewhere in the NT.

The timing of the NT government�s announcement has also been questioned considering the upcoming by-election to be held in the seat of Araluen, which includes Alice Springs, on October 9.