Minerals Council of Australia says uranium bans must be lifted

Australia should use uranium as a bargaining chip in trade talks with the US aimed at lessening the effect of tariffs, says the Minerals Council.

Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Tania Constable. Picture: Colin Murty

Australia should use uranium as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations with the US aimed at lessening the impact of tariffs, says the nation’s peak mining lobby group.

Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Tania Constable said there was no technical, environmental or economic reason to maintain restrictions on mining in uranium-rich Western Australia and some other states, and that the energy source could be used as leverage in trade talks with the Trump administration.

“It is a damning indictment on the (WA) government that it is very happy to host nuclear submarines – the crown jewels of the AUKUS program – yet refuses to supply our allies with uranium for the peaceful purpose of energy generation,” she said. “The US has 90 nuclear power stations, we have the uranium to match.”

The offer of closer co-operation on critical minerals supply chains was not enough to sway the Trump administration to spare Australia from the steel and aluminium tariffs.

Ms Constable said the US needed uranium and currently had to rely on imports from Canada, Kazakhstan and Russia.

“They don’t have the supply they need for the reactors that they have in the US, so they’re dealing with Kazakhstan, Russia for their uranium,” she said.

“Why would they get it from a place like Australia? And WA is sitting on its hands on this issue.”

WA’s Labor government restricts uranium mining even though it has welcomed moves to have Virginia-class submarines home-ported at the Royal Australian Navy’s Garden Island base south of Perth under the security pact with the US and UK.

WA has a ban on new mines, while mining is allowed in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Australian uranium can only be exported to other countries under nuclear non-proliferation arrangements to ensure it is used for peaceful purposes.

Ms Constable said Australia’s capacity to supply uranium in big volumes had been raised in discussions with counterparts in the US and with the Albanese government around trade ties and tariffs.

The MCA has also highlighted the increase in gold flowing from Australia to the US, and distorting of balance of trade figures as Canberra tries to mitigate the impact of the steep tariffs on steel and aluminium exports.

Markets are now bracing for the Trump administration to slap a 25 per cent tariff on copper imports sometime in April in an escalation of a global trade war.

Gold exports to the US surged to a record $US2.9bn ($4.6bn) in January driven by investor demand and concerns about potential tariffs. “I have raised uranium as an important strategic mineral for this country in negotiations. I’ve also raised gold as an important strategic mineral for this country in our negotiations,” Ms Constable told a WA Mining Club event on Thursday.

There are no operating uranium mines in WA but Toro Energy (Wiluna), New York-listed Cameco (Kintyre, Yeelirrie) and Deep Yellow (Mulga Rock) all have stalled projects in the state.

Ms Constable told an audience that included Rio Tinto iron ore boss Simon Trott, Regis Resources chief executive Jim Beyer and Lynas Rare Earths managing director Amanda Lacaze that the Albanese government had targeted the mining industry since gaining power.

“In three years, we have watched the competitiveness of the Australian minerals sector be systematically whittled down,” she said. “Poor policy compounded by poor policy. Costs mounted upon costs.

“There is no doubt this federal government has taken a particular bent against our industry.

“There are platitudes, yes. There are promises, certainly. But actions speak volumes.

“Our industry has been battered by narrow policies that have compounded high energy prices, by reckless industrial relations policies that damage productivity, by the pursuit of a rigid environmental approvals regime that chased away investment.”

The MCA attack came as Rio was officially dragged to the Fair Work Commission by unions seeking to re-establish themselves in the iron ore industry. The Australian Workers Union on Wednesday formally applied to the FWC for a majority support determination against Rio in regard to its Paraburdoo mine.

Originally published as Minerals Council of Australia says uranium bans must be lifted