Australian Uranium News: January 2006

Uranium exports to China too risky

January 30, 2006 by Jim Green in Green Left Weekly: An SBS-commissioned Newspoll of 1200 Australians last September found that 53% were opposed to uranium exports to China, with just 31% in favour. Nevertheless, on January 17 the federal government began negotiating a bilateral uranium export agreement with a Chinese delegation in Canberra and the negotiations will continue in the coming months...

Australian miner expands uranium stake

January 27, 2006 in Creamer Media's Mining Weekly Online: Australian Stock Exchange-listed gold and uranium explorer Mindax has announced an expansion of its portfolio of Western Australian uranium interests. The expansion was effected through a 50/50 exploration joint venture with Quasar Resources, an affiliated company of South Australian uranium miner Heathgate Resources, and a collaborative uranium research project with the CSIRO...

Summit flags new uranium province

January 23, 2006 at Mining News.net: THE identification of ten separate deposits at Summit Resources' Mt Isa project in Queensland has it trumpeting the area as a new "uranium province", with the company looking to define resource figures for eight of the prospects by mid-year. Summit said resource drilling was now underway, or about to start, on the Valhalla, Andersons, Skal, Bikini, Mirrioola, Tjilpa, Warwai and Watta prospects. The Valhalla deposit currently has a measured and indicated resource of 11.5 million tonnes containing 36.5Mlbs of uranium oxide, with an inferred resource of over 55Mlbs...

Australia reports progress in talks with China over uranium sales

January 20, 2006 at Forbes.com: Australia said 'good and substantial' progress was made this week in negotiations over the sale of uranium to China - talks that focus on safeguards against its use in nuclear weapons. Two days of talks between Chinese and Australian officials in Canberra will be continued at a still-to-be-determined time, a foreign ministry spokesman said, according to Agence France-Presse...

Australia's Paladin announces first uranium sales from Namibia mine

January 18, 2006 at Forbes.com: Paladin Resources Ltd said it has secured its first sales contract for a portion of its uranium yellowcake production from the Langer Heinrich uranium mine in Namibia. The sales arrangement is with a major US utility for the purchase of 2.145 mln pounds of yellow cake for delivery between 2007-2012, at market price at time of delivery...

Speculation drives uranium miners as Gallop goes

January 18, 2006 by Jamie Freed in The Sydney Morning Herald: Shares in West Australian uranium explorers rocketed up to 32 per cent higher yesterday in response to the shock resignation of the state's staunchly anti-nuclear premier, Dr Geoff Gallop, on Monday. Dr Gallop's fierce opposition to uranium mining has hampered opportunities for companies such as Rio Tinto, Paladin Resources, Redport Limited, Nova Energy and Uranex to make progress on their projects in WA.

(West Australian) Uranium ban set to stay

Shares soar with resources

January 17, 2005 in The Australian: The share market opened slightly stronger this morning with resource stocks leading the way. The top traded stock by volume was uranium and gold explorer Redport Ltd with 25.25 million shares changing hands for a total value of $2.34 million...

Mega enters into agreement to acquire Hindmarsh Resourcers Ltd

China deal would not 'make or break' uranium industry

January 16, 2006 by Melissa Fyfe in The Age: Australia's uranium industry has played down the economic value of selling its controversial resource to China. On the eve of two days of talks between Australian and Chinese officials in Canberra, the Uranium Information Centre - largely funded by uranium miners BHP Billiton, Heathgate Resources and Rio Tinto - said the Chinese market was not "make or break". "It will be a significant step forward, but not a big deal," said Ian Hore-Lacy, the centre's manager.

Uranium mines: the rush is on

January 15, 2006 by Chris Pippos in The Sunday Mail:Uranium exploration is booming in South Australia as the State Government pushes for more mines, saying that not to allow them would be akin to "the Saudi Arabians keeping their oil in the ground". New figures show 25 Australian and international companies have 86 uranium exploration licences in SA - an increase of about 100 per cent in three years. And a further 30 licence applications are being considered...

Aussies warm to nuclear power

January 15, 2006 by Chris Tinkler in The Herald Sun: The push for nuclear power has received a major boost, with almost half the population supporting its introduction. Forty-seven per cent of people are in favour of establishing a nuclear power industry amid growing fears over climate change, a Sunday Herald Sun-Galaxy poll reveals...

Uranium export safeguards questioned

January 13, 2006 in ABC News Online: Questions have been raised about Australia's ability to ensure that any uranium exported to China for use by its nuclear power industry is not diverted into the country's weapons program. Discussions will begin in Canberra next week on a safeguards agreement with China that would allow for uranium to be exported to the country. Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane says China will have to agree to strict controls...

China sniffing SA uranium supplies

January 13, 2006 by Cameron England in The Advertiser: Chinese companies have approached South Australian uranium companies in a bid to lock down supply, despite not yet being able legally to buy Australian uranium. One object of their attention has been SA's stalled Honeymoon uranium mine, 500km northeast of Adelaide...

Martin Ferguson: Embrace clean energy

Canadians look to reshape Bullion into uranium force

January 13, 2006 by David Gibson in WA Business News: Gold explorer Bullion Minerals Ltd will become a pure uranium play, making the most of a $3 million cash injection from Canadian group Laramide Resources. Cashing in on the demand for uranium stocks, the deal helps Bullion focus on uranium interests in Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.
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RPT Canada's Mega Uranium launches bid for Australia explorer Hindmarsh

January 11, 2006 at Forbes.com: SYDNEY (AFX) - Uranium explorer Hindmarsh Resources Ltd said it has received a 20 mln aud takeover offer from Canadian-listed Mega Uranium Ltd, valuing it at 0.78 aud a share. Hindmarsh directors said they will recommend the off-market scrip offer of 100 Mega shares for every 694 Hindmarsh shares in the absence of a higher offer...

No new mines?

January 10, 2006 by Marni Cordell in Signature: The number of companies exploring for uranium in Australia has jumped from five in 2003 to more than 70 today. But while exploration is legal across the country, no new mines can come online in the states without a change to ALP policy. As the price of yellowcake continues to rise, the Shadow Minster for Industry and Resources Martin Ferguson is heading a push to have the policy overturned...

No Rice but lots of Greens await PM

December 9, 2005 by Matthew Franklin in The Courier Mail: ..."We need a strategy to make Australia a low-carbon economy and that requires government action, not simply hoping the market will somehow make this change," (Green's climate change spokeswoman) Senator Milne said. She said the Government's moves to promote the export of Australian uranium so buyers could generate nuclear power ignored the danger that uranium exported to China could be used for nuclear weapons...

No targets expected from climate change conference

January 9, 2006 in AM (ABC news online): The Federal Government does not expect this week's climate change conference in Sydney to set specific targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions ... Environment Minister Ian Campbell remains hopeful of constructive outcomes from the gathering, but he has told AM there will be no "silver bullet" from the group's first meeting. "The outcome has got to be to establish a new level of cooperation, an unprecedented level of cooperation between these six important countries," he said ... The Federal Government is being warned not to use the meeting to promote coal and uranium export deals...

Batavia Mining shares surge

January 6, 2006 in The Age: ...Batavia said it ... was also working on gaining an exploration licence for advanced uranium targets in the Northern Territory...

School of mines should strike Gold

January 6, 2006 by Doug Daws in The Golden Mail: ...One sector alone has the capacity to enhance the reputation and breath of training available at the School of Mines and that is uranium. Whether the current Premier likes it or not, uranium production in Australia will grow to. We will be confronted with the options - whether to mine or not to mine - and the realists have already made up their minds...

Action needed on climate change: Labor

January 4, 2006 in The Sydney Morning Herald: ...The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate in Sydney ... is designed to address global warming with better technology, but its critics claim it is aimed at covering up a lack of real action and is a forum for boosting uranium and coal exports from Australia and the US...

The Potential Emerging Energy Crunch Part II The nuclear solution

January 3, 2006 by Sol Palha in HoweStreet.com: Over 50% of the world's supply of Uranium is located in just 3 countries, Australia 30%, Canada 14% and Kazakhstan 17%. Even though Australia has the world's largest reserves, Canada produces the most uranium, accounting for 18% of total output. Over the next 15 years China plans on building 40 additional nuclear plants (these numbers keep changing the thing to keep in mind is that they are going to keep building). China's known uranium reserves stand at 77,000 tons; currently it consumes 1,650 tons a year. In 2020 this could increase to 8250 tons a year. Further more China has signed strategic deals with Kazakhstan and Canada. It is just a matter of time before it does so with Australia...

Get set, go, it's a radioactive race

January 2, 2006 by C. Raja Mohan in The Indian Express: ...The Chinese proposal last year to acquire uranium mines in Australia has opened up a big nuclear controversy in Canberra. Australian environmentalists have always opposed uranium mining. Peaceniks reject the very idea of uranium exports. Conservatives want to know why Australia would want to beef up Chinese nuclear capabilities. But the size of potential trade with China, as always, must be expected to prevail over other sentiments. Having tied up, a couple of years ago, a $19 billion deal on Australian natural gas, Beijing is salivating at Australia's uranium riches that account for nearly 40 per cent of world reserves...

Editorial: Encore for reform

January 2, 2006 editorial in The Australian: ...Martin Ferguson has made a case for burying Labor policy on restricting uranium exports ... but, as senior party figures have pointed out, Labor has been guilty of adopting a scattergun approach to policymaking. Only by addressing the aspirations of hardworking Australians can Mr Beazley hope to reap rewards at the next election...

Commodities Corner: Goin' Fission For Uranium

January 1, 2006 in cattlenetwork.com: There's probably no key commodity in the world that's been subject to more distortion over the years than uranium. The fuel, which produces 16% of the world's electric power, has seen its price soar, plummet and soar again as demand and supply gyrated with events like the arms race, the Three Mile Island accident, the end of the Cold War and, most recently, the renaissance of the nuclear-power industry. With commodity markets booming worldwide and financial innovations allowing ore investors to join the party, non-industry players are participating in some flush times for the sector. Industry watcher Ux Consulting estimates that about 10 million pounds have been purchased by various private investors, equivalent to nearly 10% of annual production. The spot price of uranium oxide was recently quoted at $36.25 a pound, up 300% in three years and up from about $7 in 2000. But not everyone is pleased with their entry into this opaque market...

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