Australia approves fourth uranium mine

Australia will develop a fourth uranium mine after determining it would have no environmental risk, the environment minister said.

Peter Garrett, once a vocal opponent of mining as lead singer of the band Midnight Oil, said Tuesday that approving the mine had been a "difficult decision" but he was satisfied with the two environmental assessments that had been carried out.

"Following this thorough assessment and careful consideration, I am certain this operation poses no credible risk to the environment," Garrett said in a statement.

He said the mine would be subject to strict monitoring.

The Four Mile project will be mined about 310 miles (500 kilometers) north of Adelide, the capital of South Australia state. It is a joint venture of Australian companies Alliance Resources Limited and Quasar Resources Pty Ltd.

Quasar called the project "one of the most significant uranium discoveries made in Australia in the past 25 years."

The mine is expected to begin operating in 2010.

Australia is the world's third largest producer of uranium, behind Canada and Kazakhstan. Its exports of uranium oxide are worth about 900 million Australian dollars ($709 million) a year.

Garrett has come under personal attack for approving the mine because of his past musical and activist activities. He once ran for office as a candidate of the Nuclear Disarmament Party, and Midnight Oil songs often carried anti-nuclear and environmental messages.

Uranium is a key fuel for nuclear energy plants.

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt, who supports uranium mining, attacked Garrett for his back-flip on the issue.

"The promises Peter Garrett chose to make on uranium mining stand for nothing - and nor does he, any longer," Hunt said Tuesday.

Garrett told reporters that he abided by his party's policy, which allows for an expansion of uranium mining.

"The values that I had before entering parliament I hold dear," Garrett said. "(But) the government has made a decision ... on this matter, which I fully accept."

Environmental groups and the Greens political party criticized the announcement of the new mine, saying chemical and radioactive waste would leach into the groundwater.

The uranium will be extracted by a method that involves pumping sulfuric acid into the uranium ore to dissolve the radioactive materials.

"For the life of me I can't see how it's world's best practice to pump acid into the ground to allow radioactive waste to be disposed of into groundwater and then not require the company to rehabilitate afterward," said South Australian Greens lawmaker Mark Parnell. "What we'll be left with is a toxic legacy."