New South Wales Considers Uranium Mining Return

Published on Monday August 01 2011 (AEST)

The decades-old ban on uranium exploration and mining in NSW could be overturned, with the state government reportedly in talks with industry leaders.

In May, federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson called for the Victorian and NSW governments to rethink their long-term bans on uranium mining and exploration.

The NSW Minister for Resources and Energy, Chris Hartcher, then met the chief executive of the Australian Uranium Association, Michael Angwin, in mid-June to discuss overturning the ban, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Monday.

Mr Angwin has since written to Mr Hartcher "formally asking him ... to permit uranium exploration and mining to take place in NSW", an association spokesman told the newspaper.

The association spokesman said that while the NSW ban made it difficult to estimate the size of deposits, he believed it was "a significant potential royalty source".

A spokeswoman for the NSW government said it believed Mr Ferguson's comments "deserved consideration" and that the matter remained "under consideration by the minister".

Uranium exploration and mining are prohibited in NSW under the Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) Act of 1986.

LATEST UPDATE

'No Plans' to lift NSW Uranium Ban

Posted August 01, 2011 09:14:07

The New South Wales Government is adamant it has no plans to overturn a state ban on uranium mining and exploration.