WA uranium mining ban takes centre stage at Diggers and Dealers opener
All that is needed is the stroke of a pen to banish one rule that stands in the way.
Australia already exports enough uranium to offset the emissions of the country's entire coal fleet, but only South Australia and the Northern Territory allow the mining of uranium ore.
Despite Western Australia boasting vast reserves of the radioactive metal, the Labor state government has had a ban on new uranium projects since 2017.
Dr Chris Keefer, a Canadian nuclear influencer headlining the annual Diggers and Dealers mining conference in Kalgoorlie, urged a rethink, arguing it would help global emissions and the Australian economy.
'There's been a lot of talk, and I understand that it's gone up in smoke now, about Australia becoming a hydrogen exporter, a green energy superpower, the Saudi Arabia of hydrogen, right?' Keefer told a tentful of miners and investors in the WA gold mining town.
'And it's ignoring the fact that you already are a clean energy superpower in terms of your exports.
'So one half of Australia's emissions are offset by its uranium exports, which are used around the world instead of, you know, a mix of coal and gas. Your entire coal fleet's emissions are essentially offset by the uranium that you export.
'So hopefully, God willing, sense will return, and you'll be able to contribute more.'
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