MINES and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore has assured Western Australians that the government will use the world’s best practise to regulate the state’s uranium sector, following the official signing of a joint venture between Mega Uranium and its Japanese investors.
The Minister says that Mega Uranium expected to have the State’s first operational uranium mine up and running by late 2011.
Mega Uranium has reached a US$49million agreement with Japanese Australian Uranium Resources Development Company (JAURD) and ITOCHU Minerals Energy Australia for a 35% stake in its Lake Maitland project.
Moore claims that it is satisfying to see that in the nine months since the State Government lifted the uranium mining ban, foreign investors have recognised the enormous potential of WA’s uranium resources.
Moore says that uranium mining has occurred in Australia for 30 years without major incident and is confident that it will do so in WA. He says that the State Government will ensure that no uranium mine begins operation unless it has the highest possible safety and environmental standards in place.
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