Libs want WA uranium to fuel energy transition

Uranium mined in Western Australia should be made available to fuel the green energy transition of nuclear-powered nations, Liberal Party of WA leader Libby Mettam says.

Processing of uranium ore in WA is unlikely, however, according to Association of Mining and Exploration Companies chief executive, Warren Pearce, who said exporting raw material made sense for the state.

The 2025 Liberal election policy revealed today would lift a moratorium placed on uranium mining by the state government when Labor swept to power in 2017, a move that scuppered all bar one project in the state.

Ms Mettam said opening WA to uranium mining would further the state’s case as a global green energy transition leader.

“What this offers is certainty for the industry, it supports jobs, it supports the diversification of the WA economy and the resources sector in particular, it is a sensible approach and it's backed up by good research and good science,” she said.

“Let the market decide; an ideological ban which is in place in WA does not stack up.

“There is global demand for uranium to support the global reduction in emissions, in particular, for safe places to invest in safe jurisdictions.”

Ms Mettam said Labor’s opposition to uranium mining was little more than a scare campaign.

“We have got significant resources here and it has been mined safely in Australia for four decades,” she said.

The WA Liberals’ policy comes amid a flurry of activity in the global uranium space as explorers seek to capitalise on a confluence of factors, including warnings of a production shortage from the world’s largest uranium miner, and promising demand forecasts out of the US and Europe.

Sweden, where Melbourne-headquartered Aura Energy is eyeing ground, is probing whether it should lift a ban on uranium mining imposed in 2018.

Mr Pearce said uranium had been mined safely elsewhere in Australia for 30 years.

“We don't believe there is a good reason not to allow uranium mining Australia,” he said.

“It is part of the globe's emissions reduction strategy to net zero, to help those countries that have chosen nuclear energy to be a part of their decarbonisation strategy.

“We have uranium resources that will help them achieve it and we should be able to make those resources available to them.”

Mr Pearce said the ban had made it difficult to gauge how valuable uranium mining could be to the WA economy.

One sticking point for uranium mining could be wary traditional owners who had strongly opposed the practice prior to 2017.

That opposition, particularly from Martu communities towards Cameco’s lapsed Kintyre mine proposal near Karlamilyi National Park, was a key pillar of anti-uranium campaigning during the Barnett government years.

Shadow treasurer and Mining and Pastoral MP Neil Thomson said consultation would take place with remote communities.

“There is obviously a range of views,” he said.

“Some of them actually support the development of uranium, others don’t.

“That is up to the companies to work with those are traditional owner groups as they have to do with every mining proposal under native title.”

The price of uranium doubled in the year to February 5 to $US106 per pound, though has retreated 12 per cent since.

Vimy Resources’ Mulga Rock near Kalgoorlie is the only project proposed prior to 2017 in WA yet to be iced.

The state Liberal policy comes as federal counterparts press a new policy to introduce nuclear power into Australia’s energy production mix.

That proposal has been met with health scepticism from experts about nuclear power’s ability to compete with renewable energy.

Ms Mettam said she did not believe nuclear power stacked up in WA.