Australia govt berates Rio unit over uranium leak
Date: 24-Apr-02
Country: AUSTRALIA
While the environment was not harmed during the mismanagement of a low-grade ore stockpile at the Ranger mine and the delayed reporting of downstream uranium levels during January and February 2002, ERA needed to upgrade its systems, Environment Minister David Kemp said.
ERA, which mines uranium in Australia's Northern Territory near the world-heritage Kakadu National Park, is 64-percent owned by Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Plc/Ltd .
Rio inherited its interest in the uranium miner when it took over iron ore and metals miner North Ltd in 2001.
Kemp said a report by the Office of the Supervising Scientist (OSS) found that even though the government's environment requirements were not breached, ERA's internal management processes had failed.
"Fortunately, ERA's backup systems did their job and the uranium levels entering (Kakadu) Park were always at least 80 times better than the Australian drinking water standard," Kemp said in a statement.
"However, given the importance of protecting the World Heritage areas surrounding these mine sites, I expect nothing short of best practice in environmental management. ERA will clearly have to lift its game," Kemp said.
He said ERA had incorrectly managed the Grade 2 ore stockpile at Ranger mine and had failed to immediately notify authorities when action levels in Swift Creek downstream from Jabiluka were exceeded.
The highest concentration of uranium measured downstream of Ranger and Jabiluka was 0.25 parts per billion and 0.05 parts per billion, respectively. The Australian drinking water standard is 20.0 parts per billion.
Kemp said ERA had agreed to upgrade its systems at Ranger and Jabiluka to comply with international best practice by July 2003 and certified to best practice by July 2005.
ERA had also committed to use an external specialist to review environmental duties, to replace its environment manager and to commission a new data management system that automatically alerts ERA managers when reportable levels are exceeded.
Illiquid ERA shares ended down three cents at A$2.00 in a weaker overall market.