WA uranium miners seek Labor support

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The uranium sector has urged Western Australia’s newly elected Premier Mark McGowan to keep an open mind when it comes to uranium mining in the state.

Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) executive director for uranium Daniel Zavattiero said this week that, since the ban on uranium mining in Western Australia was lifted by the previous government, over A$300-million has been invested in exploration and development, with four mines having moved through environmental assessment processes and achieved state government approval to proceed.

McGowan previously said the uranium mines that have been approved to start construction would be allowed to do so under Labor leadership.

“Although current global market conditions are challenging for new uranium projects anywhere, these projects are well placed to move through to construction and operations as market conditions improve.

“These projects together could generate around 2 000 jobs during construction and over 1 400 ongoing jobs in operations,” Zavattiero said.

“The uranium industry is confident that as Western Australian uranium projects are developed and production comes on stream, the industry will show that it operates safely and responsibly in a manner which generates benefits for local communities and the state. 

“This has been the industry’s experience in South Australia and the Northern Territory where it operates with bipartisan support.”

Zavattiero noted that Western Australia is highly prospective for uranium and the industry is confident that, over time, it can build bipartisan support for further developments beyond those already approved. 

“There is no doubt Western Australia can have a world-class uranium sector, as the global nuclear industry continues to expand,” he added.