Ranger uranium mine near Jabiru in the Northern Territory. (ERA)
Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) hopes to hasten its recovery from the uranium sector slump induced by Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster by developing a new underground mine in the Northern Territory.
ERA chief executive Rob Atkinson said the Rio subsidiary is currently seeking approval for the development of an underground uranium mine in Kakadu National Park in order to extend the life of its existing Ranger mine, which is struggling to turn a profit.
“Gaining approval for a viable Ranger 3 Deeps underground mine will re-establish ERA as one of the premier producers of uranium at a time that we expect uranium markets to start tightening and prices improving,” said Atkinson at the company’s annual general meeting in Darwin.
Chairman Peter McMahon says that despite a recent slump in uranium prices which caused ERA to suffer a full year loss of $219 million in 2012, the long-term outlook remains positive with leading economies increasingly turning to nuclear power as a replacement for fossil fuels.
Energy Resources of Australia CEO Rob Atkinson. Photo Credit: Carl Curtain
“While the short-term outlook for the uranium market is challenging, the longer term picture for uranium prices is brighter,” he said.
The Fukushima Reactor Disaster over two years ago served as a major deterrent for the development of nuclear power and caused a number of countries to shelve their expansion plans. Many analysts nonetheless consider it to be the cleanest and most practical source of energy until renewable sources become cheap and sophisticated enough to pick up the slack.
A team of the UK’s leading scientific advisers issued a paper earlier in the year advocating the upgrade and expansion of Britain’s nuclear reactor fleet while major developing economies India and China have also flagged the vigorous development of their own nuclear energy plans.
Australian government at both the local and national level has responded to such developments positively. New South Wales and Queensland have already overturned long-standing moratoriums on the development of uranium deposits while Prime Minister Gillard indicated during an official visit to New Delhi last year that Australia would be willing to sell the radioactive fuel to India despite the country not being a signatory to key nuclear protocols.
By Marc Howe
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