Rio Tinto Considering Jabiluka Uranium Project Amid Protests

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Rio Tinto Considering Jabiluka Uranium Project Amid Protests

  

Canberra, March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Rio Tinto Group said it's 

considering developing its Jabiluka project, the third biggest 

uranium deposit, amid protests from environmentalists and Aboriginal 

groups. 



Rio, the second-largest mining company, has said it will try to sell 

its interest in Jabiluka in the Northern Territory, and said today it 

had received approaches. Still, the London-based company said an 

environmental assessment of the project is continuing. 



``We are quite capable of running mining operations profitably and 

with sensitivity to the environment and the people involved,'' Rio 

Tinto's Chief Executive Leigh Clifford told ABC Radio's AM Program. 



Rio controls the mine through a 68.4 percent stake in Energy 

Resources of Australia Ltd. ERA has been trying for more than four 

years to win approvals to develop Jabiluka, located next to the 

Kakadu National Park, amid protests by environmentalists and 

Aborigines, the traditional owners of the 79 square kilometer (50 

mile) mining lease. 



Last month, Rio said it expected to decide by March 31 whether to 

dispose of its stake in ERA, the third-biggest uranium miner, which 

it acquired through its A$3 billion ($1.5 billion) acquisition of 

Melbourne-based North Ltd. last year. Sydney-based ERA has a market 

value of about A$458 million. 



The sale of the Rio stake in Jabiluka has been linked with bids from 

Cogema SA, a French state-controlled uranium miner and processor of 

nuclear fuel, and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Cameco Corp., North 

America's biggest uranium miner. 



Potential Sale 



``We have certainly had approaches from other players about 

potentially selling it, but ... we have to look at the economics of 

that whole project,'' Clifford said. 



``We are pretty proud of our record in terms of running mining 

operations and some of them have been in quite unusual environments 

and we are satisfied that any operation we decide to retain, we can 

hold our head up high.'' 



Still, the company is under no pressure to decide whether to sell or 

develop Jabiluka, particularly as mining is continuing at ERA's 

Ranger uranium mine, located 22 kilometers from Jabiluka, said Rio 

spokesman Ian Head. 



``Rio Tinto is still assessing the future of the Jabiluka project as 

part of a review process,'' Head said. 



Australian Greens party Senator Bob Brown said in November that 

selling the stake in ERA to an overseas company would be unpopular 

because a foreign owner may be less sensitive about environmental and 

Aboriginal concerns. 



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Sandy Perle                                     Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100                                     

Director, Technical                             Extension 2306                                  

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service         Fax:(714) 668-3149                                          

ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.                       E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net                                                      

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue           E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com                       

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com



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