Pressure is rising on the Crisafulli government – from the resources industry and a former conservative leader – to lift a ban on uranium mining in Queensland to create jobs and chip away at soaring state debt.

One project is ready to go, according to Canada-based miner Laramide Resources, owner of a potential open-cut site in the state’s north-west, which it says could rake in more than $600 million in revenue each year for an industry that would provide billions to the state’s economy annually.