NT Govt defends uranium exploration decision
Posted
The Northern Territory Resources Department says it is justified in allowing uranium exploration on a site near Alice Springs because most of the objections it received did not relate to the exploration process.
There have been two protests in Alice Springs since the Government's decision to grant exploration rights for the Angela-Pamela deposit.
The department's Richard Sellers says about 230 public comments were received before the exploration licence was granted.
He says the department and the applicant, Cameco-Paladin, addressed issues with those who raised them.
"The majority of the comments that came in were actually comments about uranium mining or the downstream use of uranium, they weren't actually about the actual exploration process," he said.
"So in that sense if that prospect or any other prospect that's discovered around the Territory goes to the full stage where they want to mine it then it will go through full and open assessment at that stage."
