The newly elected liberal government of Western Australia reversed a ban on the mining of uranium in the mineral-rich state which should deliver a huge boost to the world’s current U308 reserves for the coming years as well as boost the demand for used mining equipment for sale.Visit our Website for more information on used mining equipment for sale.
Australia is the world’s 2nd largest producer of uranium after Canada, supplying around 1/4 of global demand. This position has been maintained by the country with only three mines: Ranger in the Northern territory; and the Olympic Dam and Beverly mines in South Australia.
Western Australia is believed to contain the biggest uranium reserves of any Australian state, with current resource estimates of around 170,000 tons of U308. So far at least eight significant uranium deposits have been identified in West Australia and the government's decision is likely to see Australia soon become the world’s top producer.
Several companies including global giant BHP Billiton have uranium interests in WA. Stock values soared once the new government was elected, withPerth-based Paladin Energy, a miner with a $3.2bn market value and uranium resources at its Manyingee and Oobagooma projects in Western Australia, a particular favourite of investors.
Enthusiasm has been tempered, however, with the current global financial crisis leading to a shrinking of much needed investment capital according to publicly listed miner Energy Metals’ executive director Lindsay Dudfield.
"If we were still sitting in the financial environment we were in 2007, with the change in legislation there would have been a far more dramatic immediate effect," Dudfield says. The Perth-based company has a number of small uranium projects in WA which Dudfield says are progressing well. He adds that the reversal of the ban has encouraged the company to begin discussions with a number of traditional Aboriginal landowners.
