The Advertiser http://www.news.com.au/headlines/ Mine passes nuclear test 18mar99 THE controversial Beverley uranium mine in the State's Far North will be given approval today, paving the way for full-scale production to begin next year. The Environment Minister, Senator Hill, has told The Advertiser the mine has passed its final environmental tests. The Beverley mine, 300km north of Port Augusta, will become Australia's third active uranium mine, joining Roxby Downs and the Ranger mine, in the Kakadu National Park. Construction of the Beverley mine site is expected to create 75 jobs initially with another 120 positions once it hits full production by the middle of next year. The uranium will be exported to overseas markets, mainly for nuclear power production and medical purposes. "Commercially, it's positive news for SA. It's a new development and it has to be a boost for the mining industry which has so many promising prospects ahead of it," Senator Hill said. "This demonstrates these projects can be developed for economic gain without damaging the environment." Senator Hill and the mine's operators, United States-based Heathgate Resources - a subsidiary of US nuclear energy giant General Atomics - estimate another 300 spin-off jobs will be created. The State Government, which is set to grant the necessary mining licences within six weeks, will reap $1 million a year in royalties while the economy will earn another $20 million a year through wages and taxes. Heathgate expects to extract 1000 tonnes of uranium a year over 15 years using the in-situ leaching technique in which the uranium is dissolved into groundwater by pumping sulphuric acid and oxygen underground, then brought to the surface and separated. The company also has agreed to pay about $850,000 each year to four local Aboriginal groups which have lodged native title claims over the Beverley area on Wooltana station. Senator Hill delayed approving the mine before Christmas, as expected, because of continuing concerns that radioactive water could leak from the Beverley aquifer into surrounding groundwater deposits, including the Great Artesian Basin. Earlier tests for leakage prompted Senator Hill to order a further independent assessment by the Australian Geological Survey Organisation. He said he was now satisfied "that no hydraulic connection exists between the Beverley aquifer and other surrounding groundwater". "The successful completion of this additional level of environmental assessment demonstrates the Commonwealth Government's commitment to the highest standards of environmental protection," he said. Today's official announcement will anger environmental groups which oppose the mining of uranium and the in-situ technique. A Victoria University of Technology report, commissioned last year by Friends of the Earth and the Australian Conservation Foundation, said in-situ leach uranium mining was "not controllable, is inherently unsafe, is unlikely to be able to meet strict environmental controls and is not an environmentally benign method of uranium mining". Since the Coalition abolished the Labor-introduced three-mines policy in 1996, there have been no restrictions on the number of uranium mines allowed. Trial mining is also underway at the Honeymoon site in SA, north-west of Broken Hill, and at Jabiluka, in the Northern Territory's Kakadu national park. ************************************************************************* This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
