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Uranium mine on site of Australia's largest deposit knocked back
Wednesday, 3 Aug 2016 10:58:12
Yeelirrie, near Wiluna, the site of Australia's largest uranium deposit. (ABC News)
Western Australia's environmental watchdog has knocked back a proposed uranium mine in the state's Goldfields, at the site of Australia's largest uranium deposit.
The Environmental Protection Agency said Cameco Australia's Yeelirrie Uranium project could not meet one of the nine key environmental factors.
The Canadian company sought to mine up to 7,500 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate per year from the Yeelirrie deposit, about 420 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and 70km south-west of Wiluna.
The facility was to include two open pits, processing facilities, roads, accommodation, stockpile and laydown areas.
It would have transported the uranium oxide by road for export through the Port of Adelaide.
The authority's chairman, Dr Tom Hatton, said the assessment process was extensive and involved public consultation and a site visit.
He said the proposal would threaten more than 70 species of underground fauna, known as "stygofauna".
The proposal had attracted protests, including from traditional owner Kado Muir, who argued there was no broad community support for uranium mining in Western Australia.
The EPA put the proposal up for public comment for 12 weeks, attracting 169 responses and a further 2,946 pro forma submissions.
The EPA gave a proposal for Western Australia's first uranium mine the green light in 2012, the first to be approved since the lifting of a state ban on uranium mining in 2008.
But the project, put forward by South Australian mining company Toro Energy, has stalled on the back of falling demand and global prices for the commodity.
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