The Northern Territory news Sat 22 Dec 2012
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2012-12-22
This publication contains may contain links to external sites. These external sites may no longer be active.
English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Darwin
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Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/243784
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/600836
24 NT NEWS. Saturday, December 22, 2012. www.ntnews.com.au P U B : N T N E W S D A T E : 2 2 -D E C -2 0 1 2 P A G E : 2 4 C O L O R : C M Y K SATURDAY EXTRA l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l ntnews.com.au Sports Performance Unlock your bodys true potential with the science of Genetics. Discover your capacity for: Endurance training Power training Muscle recovery rate Injury risk www.darwindietitians.com.au or call 8911 0622 1008088G e n e ti c T e st in g S PP Un po of Di E P M I www Science has identified 66% of your performance is explained by your genes Traditional owners dig in Senior traditional owner Yvonne Margarula with one of her nieces, at Kakadu and, below, the Ranger mine FromPage 22 For 30 years the Supervising Scientist has said that the environment aroundRanger has remained protected . . . Our improvements in safety and capital are second to none For 30 years the Supervising Scientist has said that the environment around Ranger has remained protected, he said. Our improvements in safety and capital are second to none. Certainly the rehabilitation works are a vast improvement on older legacy uranium mines such as Rum Jungle, near Batchelor, where pollution has been leaking out since mining ceased in 1971. A great deal of expense and planning has gone into the Ranger rehabilitation plan including the in stallation of a $220 million brine concentrator to reduce the amount of contaminated water on site. But Gundjeihmi shows no signs of budging on the issue of more mining. The corporation was created in 1995 to administer royalties to the local Mirarr people on whose land the mine is located, and they have been opposed to mining from the beginning. Gundjeihmi members were still angry at mining negotiations in the 1970s where they say former senior traditional owner Toby Gangale was pressured into agreeing to the Ranger and Jabiluka mines by both the Federal Government and the Northern Land Council which stood to gain royalties but also represented many Aboriginal people whose lands were not affected. The Mirarr bitterly opposed mining at Jabiluka. By 1998 the Mirarr relations with ERA were so hostile that they called in thousands of protesters from around the nation to camp on their land and blockade the Jabiluka mine. More than 500 people were arrested, including senior traditional owner Yvonne Margarula, daughter of Mr Gangale. Relations have greatly improved with ERA since that time. Jabiluka has been put on care and maintenance, never to be mined without permission. And Gundjeihmi is in the midst of negotiating a new Ranger Mine agreement with ERA. It is seeking additional benefits for the Mirarr and is to set out ways they and the company can work together. It is progressing well, said ERAs Alan Tietzel. But it has been under negotiation for more than a decade and does not address any new mining at Ranger 3 Deeps or Jabiluka. The company is now mapping out the Ranger 3 Deeps ore body that lies on the existing Ranger lease, with a $120 million exploration decline and more than 50,000m of exploration drilling. A $57 million pre-feasibility study for the mine is scheduled to be completed by the middle of 2014. But whether this new resource can become a lifeline to the town of Jabiru remains to be seen.