WNN reports that the traditional owners of the land covered by the Ranger uranium project have informed Energy Resources of Australia that they do not support any extension of the authority to mine in the project area. Under the existing authority, mining and processing activities must cease in January 2021.
The Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (GAC), acting on behalf of the Mirrar Traditional Owners, informed ERA of the traditional landowner decision which follows an ERA announcement earlier this year that its Ranger 3 Deeps extension project would not proceed to a final feasibility study.
ERA had been investigating a potential underground mining operation at Ranger 3 Deeps, an extension of the Ranger 3 orebody estimated to contain 34,761 t U3O8 (29,477 tU). Work began on a 2.2 km exploration decline in May 2012, to facilitate an AUD57 million ($44 million) pre-feasibility study. The company had been looking to start production by the end of 2015, subject to a favorable outcome from the study and securing the necessary approvals.
ERA announced in June that it would not proceed to a final feasibility study for the project, citing uncertainties in the uranium market but also citing project economics which would require operations beyond the 2021 expiry of the current authority. At the same time, ERA major shareholder Rio Tinto announced that it would not support any further study on future development at Ranger 3 Deeps. The GAC said that it was in full agreement with the direction that Rio Tinto wanted ERA to take.
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