LL:PR: No Honeymoon for New Uranium Miner

[Friends of the Earth Fitzroy]

Friends of the Earth Melbourne

7th June 000

No Honeymoon for New Uranium Miner.

National environment group Friends of the Earth (FoE) has today condemned 
plans for a new uranium mine in eastern South Australia. The Honeymoon 
project, located around 80 kms from Broken Hill, is set to be the latest 
flash point in an escalating series of anti-nuclear protest actions.

"The Honeymoon proposal is dirty and dangerous", stated FoE representative 
Ila Marks at a protest held outside the Melbourne office of part owner of 
the mine, Sedimentary Holdings". The company plans to pump sulphuric acid 
into the underground water reserves in order to leach out uranium. This is 
a direct threat to the quality of this precious resource and must not 
proceed". In situ leach (ISL) mining such as that proposed for use at 
Honeymoon is not an accepted industrial practise in any OECD nation other 
than Australia and the controversial technique has been documented to have 
caused massive contamination of groundwater reserves when used 
internationally in Central and Eastern Europe."

The Honeymoon project is majority owned by the Canadian based Southern 
Cross Resources, who are holding their Annual General Meeting today in 
Toronto. "Southern Cross are proposing to do in South Australia what they 
would not be allowed to do at home in Canada," outlined Ms Marks." It is 
unsafe and unacceptable and will be strongly resisted."

Today's action in Melbourne is part of wider action against the Honeymoon 
proposal with protest action also occurring today in Adelaide and Brisbane. 
"Today's message is clear. We are telling the company and the Government 
that polluting our groundwater in order to access a material that will 
become high level radioactive waste is not going to be accepted by the 
Australian community. The Honeymoon is most certainly over."

What:           Protest over plans for a new uranium mine in SA
Where:   Melbourne headquarters of Sedimentary Holdings - 40 Dudley St,
North Melbourne
When:   8 am to 10 am.
On 7 June-2000

Further information and comment - Ila Marks at the demonstration:       042
859 4480
ISL and Technical Issues - Gavin Mudd   9467 5756.




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