UPDATE: Energy Resources Seeks Approval For Heap Leach Project
March 15 2009 - 10:08PM
Dow Jones News
Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. (ERA.AU) said Monday it
applied for government approval of a heap leach expansion project
at the Ranger uranium mine in Australia's Northern Territory.
If approved, the heap leach facility will treat 10 million
metric tons of low grade mineralized material a year, contained in
stockpiles and the operating Ranger pit, to produce a total of
15,000 to 20,000 tons of uranium oxide.
Construction of the heap leach project would take about two
years, a company spokesman said, and a pre-feasibility study is
expected to be completed within the first half of 2009.
The Darwin-based miner, in which Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) holds a
68% stake, has also proposed to build an exploration decline to
examine the extension of the Ranger ore body.
The Ranger mine has been in production since 1981, and mining is
currently scheduled to cease in 2012-13.
Uranium output will continue from significant stockpiles at the
mine until 2020-21.
"Some of those are relatively high-grade, and some of those are
low grade. The heap leach facility is going to treat the low grade
ore," the ERA spokesman said.
ERA is the world's fourth largest uranium producer, and the
Ranger mine provides about 11% of global output. Last year it
produced over 5,000 tons of uranium oxide.
-By Elisabeth Behrmann, Dow Jones Newswires;
61-2-8272-4689 elisabeth.behrmann@dowjones.com
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