Four Mile uranium mine – Australia’s nastiest and dirtiest

Leaving aside its nasty little internal squabbles, Australia’s fifth uranium mine Four Mile uranium project in South Australia is without doubt the most striking example of  all that is wrong about Australia’s uranium industry. Well, next door, is Beverley mine – equally bad. But they’re practically the same, in that they are both practically owned by USA’s General Atomics. Neal Blue is the chairman of Quasar Resources, which is affiliated with General Atomics, a major United States weapons and nuclear energy corporation. He is CEO of Heathgate Resources.  a 100 per cent-owned subsidiary of General Atomics (GA) which owns Beverley uranium mine. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors for General Atomics

General Atomics has a murky history  It develops nuclear technologies including arms manufacture. Especially those Predator drones which kill anybody that the Pentagon thinks is “suspicious” in Iraq and Afghanistan. Neal Blue was one of the designers of Predator. At its uranium processing plant on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma, General Atomics for years covered up radioactive water and gas leaks.

General Atomic has spent $thousands’ lobbying and ferrying of  USA politicians to Australia, , and Australian  federal and state politicians to USA . In 2000 Heathgate applauded police brutality against environmentalists and local Aboriginal people. An online video clip details this brutality. the police action (in a 2000 media release which is no longer available online). After a 10-year legal case, 10 people were awarded a total of $700,000 damages.

South Australian government effectively snubs Aboriginals over legal requirements

The Government, however, remains silent on its responsibility in implementing the requirements of the Aboriginal Heritage Act, 

“The traditional owners”.. are not even named in this news release.

The traditional owner group, known as the Yura Language Consultative Group, is disappointed the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs has failed to investigate its requests for a ministerial determination over the Beverley Four Mile and Mt Gee area as being culturally significant and intimately connected, despite a legal obligation to do so under the SA Aboriginal Heritage Act.

Marsh: Cultural significance snubbed, The Advertiser, by:Jillian Marsh  December 14, 2011 http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/marsh-cultural-significance-snubbed/story-e6freai3-1226221235838 THE news release entitled “Arkaroola to be protected forever” by the SA Government’s pledging a commitment of “unprecedented protection” is welcome news. This protection, on the basis of a comprehensive three-step process, is particularly welcome for traditional owners – members of the Adnyamathanha community.

This announcement follows the persistent public outcry over the past few years over exploration leases being granted in the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary and, in particular, Mt Gee. Despite a shift in state political agencies towards a more sympathetic view of conservation concerns, all political parties remain hesitant in acknowledging the cultural significance of this region for the traditional owners.

Four Mile Uranium mine project mired in legal troubles

Quasar Resources challenges Alliance in court over Four Mile uranium project, Adelaide Now SARAH MARTIN

• June 15, 2010 QUASAR Resources is accusing junior joint venture partner Alliance Resources of frustrating development of the Four Mile uranium mine in SA’s north.

Low uranium price slows new mining ventures

...The uranium expansions are having to factor in lower uranium price expectations. Prices …. have been steadily declining…..The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said the price decline reflected the situation where supply would exceed demand for the second year in a row.

Uranium mining cranks up at Honeymoon, Sydney Morning Herald BARRY FITZGERALDMarch 12, 2010 COMMISSIONING of Australia’s fourth uranium mine begins next month…..Honeymoon is nevertheless set to reach the production stage before what was meant to be Australia’s fourth uranium mine, the Four Mile joint venture between Heathgate and Alliance Resources.

A reminder of uranium’s connection with nuclear weapons

Secretive Arms Tycoon Behind New Uranium Mine | The Media Freedom Foundation, 9 March 2010, James Neal Blue, who helped devise the Predator unmanned aircraft that are in use in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, is the director of a company that bought the Four Mile uranium mine in Australia. Blue is the chairman of Quasar Resources, which is affiliated with General Atomics, a major United States weapons and nuclear energy corporation.

Ecological devastation of uranium mining

The ecological devastation caused by uranium mining is incredible. Several of the world’s largest uranium mines use the in-situ leech (ISL) mining method, which is described by one pro-nuclear industry website as follows:

Areva now out of one Australian uranium project

WA stock values fall in January  WA Business News Finance: 17-February-

Berkeley Resources announced it had terminated its head of agreements signed in March 2006 with French nuclear power group Areva NC. In doing so, any rights previously granted to Areva for off-take or marketing of uranium production from Berkeley’s projects have been terminated with immediate effect,….

WA stock values fall in January – WA Business News

Poor safety record of Australia’s uranium mines

here have been numerous incidents at the now closed Nabarlek mine and the operating Ranger, Olympic Dam and Beverley projects.

Uranium Mining: Australia and Globally League of Individuals for the Environment, Inc , Gavin M. Mudd 7 Jan 2010 “…………………By December 2005 in Australia, on average, each tonne of uranium extracted has led to the production of 848 tonnes of mill tailings and 1,152 tonnes of combined low-grade ore and waste rock (excluding in situ leach production).

Uranium mining companies locked in dispute

• Miners clash on native title Sarah-Jane Tasker
• From: The Australian
• November 13, 2009

THE joint-venture partners in what is expected to be Australia’s next uranium mine are locked in a legal dispute over a native title agreement on the project.

Poor practices at Beverley Four Mile uranium mine

Uranium mine called ‘World’s worst practice’

The Flinders News 21/08/2009

Uranium mining in the far north of South Australia at the Beverley location near Arkaroola Wilderness Resort is being openly challenged by Aboriginal Traditional Owner Mrs Enice Marsh.