Energy Resources of Australia
Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ASX: ERA) is a public company based in Australia. It is a subsidiary of the Rio Tinto Group which owns 68.4% of the company. The chairman is David Klingner and chief executive officer is Rob Atkinson.[1]
ERA is one of the largest uranium producers in the world, through the Ranger Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory. Ranger mine one of the world’s longest continually producing uranium mines, and is located near Jabiru, 260km from Darwin in the Northern Territory. ERA is majority owned by Rio Tinto (which owns just over 68 per cent of ERA shares), with the rest publicly held and traded on the Australian Stock Exchange. ERA produces uranium oxide for sale under strict safeguards to nuclear power generating utilities in the United States, Asia and Europe, for use solely for the generation of electricity. The Mirarr are the Traditional Owners of the land on which ERA operates. ERA also holds title to the nearby Jabiluka ore body 20 km further north, which has not been mined. In 2001, ERA, The Mirarr, Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation which represents the Mirarr, and the Northern Land Council signed a landmark agreement in February 2005 on the long term management of the Jabiluka lease, which remains in place. The agreement obliges ERA to secure Mirarr consent prior to any future mining development of uranium deposits at Jabiluka. The agreement also waives some of ERA's financial obligations flowing from construction of an exploration tunnel in 1998. The signing of this agreement was a positive peak in what had been a difficult relationship between ERA (which Rio Tinto purchased from North Limited in 2001) and the Traditional Owners of the land on which it operates.[2]
In 2011, ERA produced 2,641 tonnes of uranium oxide. Production in 2011 was impacted by the temporary suspension of Plant processing at Ranger due to record rainfalls in the Northern Territory. The decision by ERA to temporarily suspend plant processing operations for almost six months from January 2011 ensured that there was mximum storage capacity in the Tailings Storage Facility at Ranger during heavy rainfalls.
ERA's operations are monitored by a range of regulators, including the Commonwealth Government's Supervising Scientist Division (SSD). In each of the Supervising Scientist's Annual Reports since the mine started producing in 1981, it has been found that ERA has had ni impact on the surrounding environment.
References
- ^ "ENERGY RESOURCES OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED (ERA)". Australian Stock Exchange. Archived from the original on 2006-09-24. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
- ^ "Energy Resources of Australia Limited - Company overview" (subscription required). E*Trade Australia. Huntleys' Investment Information Pty. Limited. Retrieved 2007-01-15.
External links
- Energy Resources of Australia official website
- Supervising Scientist Division
- Uranium mining and the question of corporate social responsibility
