Rio asked to clean up uranium mine work
Date: 06-Sep-02
Country: AUSTRALIA
Mining engineers had burrowed a 1.2 km long shaft on the site near the the giant Kakadu National Park as part of preliminary work to develop a mine. The work was carried out before the site was acquired by Rio Tinto.
The calls came after Rio Tinto chairman Robert Wilson repeated in a recent interview with the British Broadcasting Corp that no mine would be built without consent of the traditional Aboriginal landowners.
"What we will do is to rehabilitate that area, we will block off the adit (mine shaft), but this is not a very large area, nor in any way is it a threat to the environment," Wilson said.
He gave no time frame for performing the rehabilitation work.
Rio Tinto owns 64 percent of Energy Resources of Australia Ltd , following its acquisition of North Ltd two years ago, which already mines uranium about 15 km (nine miles) away.
"If the company is committed to no development, without traditional owner consent and the owners are opposed, then Rio Tinto needs to rehabilitate the area and plug the hole," Australian Conservation Foundation coordinator Dave Sweeney said.
The Mirrar People living near the site in a region called Jabiluka have opposed development of a mine for many years, fearing any leaks would desecrate parts of the area regarded by local tribespeople as sacred.
"So long as the threat of Jabiluka hangs over the Mirrar, Rio Tinto's commitments to sustainability and community consultation are meaningless and indeed contemptuous," Yvonne Margarula a Mirrar elder said in a statement.
Shares in Rio Tinto were up 2.2 percent at A$31.47 by early afternoon, while ERA was a cent firmer at A$0.56, in a broader market up about 0.6 percent.