Opposition to Honeymoon uranium plan
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and Friends of the Earth (FoE) will oppose the federal government's plans to push ahead with a new uranium mine at Honeymoon in South Australia. The proposal is a "mistake", FoE and ACF spokespeople said on October 7.
South Australian and Commonwealth authorities will soon release draft guidelines for the assessment of the project. Environment groups have previously expressed deep concerns over the Honeymoon proposal. The project was the focus of a national anti-uranium protest in 1982 before it was cancelled under the former Labor government's three-mines uranium policy.
Honeymoon is a small deposit of uranium estimated at 3400 tonnes. It is owned by MIM Holdings and is located about 75 kilometres north-west of Broken Hill.
"The Honeymoon proposal is based around a technique called in-situ leaching. This has never been used in a commercial uranium operation in Australia before and involves injecting large volumes of acids into the ore body to dissolve the uranium", said FoE's Steve Baker. "One very real danger is that this material will escape into the surrounding aquifers and pollute the underground water." The method has caused serious pollution in the US and East Germany.
The Honeymoon mine will share the Great Artesian Basin with the local cattle stations and households. Pollution of the region's only water source could prove catastrophic.
"Fast tracking a mining company to use a problematic technology to access a mineral that is destined to become radioactive waste is hardly the hallmark of good governance", declared ACF uranium campaigner Dave Sweeney.