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Conservationists lose appeal against Yeelirrie uranium mine approval

Headshot of Stuart McKinnon
Stuart McKinnonThe West Australian
Drilling at the Yeelirrie uranium mine.
Camera IconDrilling at the Yeelirrie uranium mine. Credit: Kalgoorlie Miner.

The Conservation Council of WA says its fight against Cameco’s proposed Yeelirrie uranium mine 420km north-west of Kalgoorlie will continue despite the environmental group losing a WA Supreme Court appeal against its approval yesterday.

WA chief justice Wayne Martin has released his judgment dismissing CCWA’s contention that the environmental approval by the former WA Environment Minister Albert Jacob late in the former Liberal Government’s term was wrong at law.

Mr Jacob’s approval of Yeelirrie went against the recommendation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the WA Appeals Convenor, which stated the mine should not go ahead because it could lead to the extinction of several species of subterranean stygofauna, endemic to the area.

Land at Yeelirrie.
Camera IconLand at Yeelirrie.

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Outside court this morning, CCWA director Piers Verstegen described the judgment as a disappointing outcome, which showed the State’s environmental laws were deeply inadequate.

He called on the Federal Government, which is yet to decide on an environmental approval for the mine, to oppose the project.

“This is a setback but it’s not the end of the road,” he said.

“We are confident there will be no uranium mines in WA.”

Besides Federal approval, the Canadian uranium miner also needs several secondary State approvals to go ahead with Yeelirrie.

And the development is unlikely to get approval from the company’s board unless the depressed uranium price rises substantially from its current levels below $US24/lb.

Justice Martin agreed to suspend a decision on awarding costs in the case at the request of CCWA’s lawyer Dr Hannes Schoombee, who requested more time to make submissions to the court.

The CCWA will argue it should not have to bear the quantum of the court costs because its appeal was in the public interest.

The organisation had made a public appeal for donations to fight the approval in the Supreme Court.

The State Labor Government agreed last year that it would not renege on any approvals issued by the previous government covering existing uranium proposals, despite its own policy opposing the mining of the commodity.

The decision means Cameco’s Yeelirrie and Kintyre, Toro Energy’s Wiluna and Vimy Resources’ Mulga Rock projects can proceed.

Isolation: Opinions are sharply divided on the meaning of Yeelirrie.
Camera IconIsolation: Opinions are sharply divided on the meaning of Yeelirrie. Credit: Kalgoorlie Miner

Uranium was first discovered at Yeelirrie in 1972, with BHP Billiton selling the site to Cameco in 2012 for $430 million. Cameco lodged plans to mine the site in a more intensive way over a shorter period of time.

The project would involve a 9km open-pit mine, clearing 2421ha of native vegetation and generating 36 million tonnes of potentially radioactive mine waste to be stored in open pits.

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