Paladin wins Angela and Pamela

Two Australian uranium deposits identified in the 1970s are to be exploited by a Paladin-Cameco joint venture. Dubbed Angela and Pamela, they contain around 12,000 tonnes of uranium.

The government of Australia's Northern Territory today accepted the joint venture's bid from what mines and energy minister Chris Natt called "a large number of applications." Expenditure on mineral exploitation in the region has grown from A$20 million in 2001 to A$100 million today, said Natt.

Paladin Energy owns the drill data for the two deposits, 25 km south of Alice Springs in the centre of Australia. The company's subsidiary, Paladin Energy Minerals NL, has taken that knowledge into the 50-50 joint venture with Canadian giant Cameco and now hopes to "move rapidly into pre-feasibility assessment."

The new Angela Project Joint Venture has committed to spend A$5 million ($4.5 million) on confirming the resources once a licence is issued, with a further A$5 million to $A10 million on a 'bankable' feasibility study and environmental impact assessment. Historic studies defined the deposits as containing 12-13,000 tonnes of uranium oxide in a range of grades from 0.10% to 0.13%.

The Angela Joint Venture will now apply for a mining licence in line with the Northern Territory mining act, which requires a four-month advertising period.