I REFER to your article in the Central Western Daily on September 17 titled “Uranium bid near Cobar”.
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Let me emphasise the ban on uranium mining in NSW remains in place and an exploration licence does not permit mining, nor does it guarantee a mining lease will be granted.
When the NSW government lifted the ban on uranium exploration two years ago, it did so to facilitate the development of a more comprehensive inventory of what uranium assets we hold in NSW.
It is also important to note that companies have so far only been granted consent to apply for exploration licences. There are still numerous steps in the process to complete before companies are actually exploring for uranium.
For example, companies intending to submit an application for an exploration licence then go through further assessment to determine if they will be granted a licence. If these companies are successful in their application, they will only be allowed to perform low-impact exploration and environmental monitoring such as mapping, desktop reviews, airborne surveying and use of hand-held sampling tools.
Any other exploration activity will require additional environmental assessment and approval.
NSW cannot be certain about the future of its uranium deposits until information is gathered through the exploration process. Until such time, uranium mining remains an illegal activity in NSW.
Further information about uranium exploration in NSW, including information about the expression of interest process, the types of activities that occur during exploration and how the environment and our communities are protected, is publicly available on http://www.resourcesandenergy.nsw.gov.au/miners-and-explorers/applications-and-approvals/uranium-exploration/eoi-process.
Kylie Hargreaves,
Deputy secretary
NSW Trade and Investment,
Division of Resources and Energy