Big boost in uranium exploration spending

Sharp rises in the spot price for uranium have triggered an exploration boom for....

  Sharp rises in the spot price for uranium have triggered an exploration boom for the mineral, Australian Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane said yesterday.The latest figures on exploration expenditure by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show a record investment in mineral exploration, driven by record prices for many mineral commodities and strong demand from China and India."Exploration for uranium is the standout in these figures," Mr Macfarlane said. "In the 12 months to March 2007, uranium exploration expenditure rose more than 70 percent to $77m.”Mr Macfarlane said uranium exploration expenditure was at a 25 year high, with more than 200 companies looking for uranium in 2006, compared with 34 companies in 2005.“Since July 2006, the spot price for uranium has tripled to US$135 a pound,” he said. “Most expenditure is in South Australia and the Northern Territory, the only jurisdictions that allow uranium mining.”Mr Macfarlane said that while Western Australia and Queensland also have significant uranium deposits, state government uranium mining bans meant those states were not reaping economic rewards.Significant discoveries in 2005 and 2006 included a new uranium deposit northwest of the Beverley mine, major extensions of the Olympic Dam deposit, and extensions to several known deposits in Queensland’s Mt Isa region."Although the record level of mineral exploration is broadly encouraging, almost two thirds was in brownfields,” Mr Macfarlane said. “Exploration expenditure must be maintained at high levels if Australia’s resource base and mineral production capacity is to be increased.”