Queensland uranium plans in question

Monday, 16 March 2015

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has called on the government of the Australian state not to rush into a decision on whether to reinstate a ban on uranium mining that was lifted in 2012.

QRC chief executive Michael Roche described media reports that the state's newly elected government proposes to reinstate the ban "disappointing but not surprising", but urged caution. "Before rushing to a decision, we would ask the government to consult the QRC and companies with uranium interests on its intentions concerning uranium," he said.

According to Brisbane newspaper The Courier Mail, Minister for State Development, Natural Resources and Mines Anthony Lynham has confirmed that a ban on uranium mining - but not exploration - will be imposed by the state. No official announcement has yet been made.

In a statement, Roche referred to the work done by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines in recent years to develop a "world-leading" regulatory framework for assessing and overseeing uranium mining projects. "Rather than a blanket ban, the better option would be to judge each project on its merits and against the regulatory framework for uranium," he said.

Uranium was first mined in Queensland in the 1950s, but no uranium has been mined there since the closure of the Mary Kathleen mine in 1982 and uranium mining was prohibited by the state's Labor Party-led government from 1989 until the election of a Liberal-National Party led government in 2012.

The Queensland government had been ready to accept applications for uranium mining since August 2014, although no applications for uranium mining have yet been lodged. Roche said that reimposition of a blanket ban on uranium mining would come as a "bitter disappointment" for the people of north-west Queensland, where the state's potential uranium mining projects are situated.

The Queensland Resources Council is an industry association representing the commercial developers of Queensland’s minerals and energy resources.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News