Rio Tinto ready to build Simandou after almost 30 years of setbacks
Simandou has faced delays due to legal disputes, political changes, and the challenges of building out 600 km rail and port infrastructure.
Despite the crash in uranium stocks last week, including a 15% drop in Rio Tinto majority-owned Energy Resources of Australia, Australian PM Julia Gillard insists the Japanese crisis will not affect uranium sales. Gillard made the remarks on Sky News and were reported in The Australian:
Julia Gillard and senior executives in Australia’s uranium industry have insisted the major producer will withstand the Japanese nuclear crisis despite a share slump.
“What is happening in Japan doesn’t have any impact on my thinking about uranium exports,” the Prime Minister told Sky News.
“We do export uranium and we will continue to export uranium.
“Countries around the world will make their own choices about how they source their energy.”
Although Australia uses no nuclear power, it is the world’s third-ranking uranium producer behind Kazakhstan and Canada, exporting some 9600 tonnes of oxide concentrate annually, worth over $1.1 billion.
It also holds the world’s largest reserves of uranium — the most widely used nuclear fuel — with 23 per cent of the total, according to the World Nuclear Association.
