Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) said on Tuesday it was suing Australia’s resources minister and others after its lease for a high-grade uranium deposit was not renewed, saying it hadn’t been given the opportunity to make its case.
The proposed development of the Jabiluka uranium deposit in Australia’s Northern Territory, which is surrounded by the world heritage-listed Kakadu rainforest, has been strongly opposed by the local Mirarr people, and sparked some of the country’s biggest environmental protests in the late 1990s.
Last month, the Northern Territory’s government, on advice from the Federal Government, declined to renew ERA’s Jabiluka lease. Shortly after, uranium miner Boss Energy withdrew an offer to pay ERA A$550 million ($360 million) for the site.
ERA said on Tuesday it had started legal proceedings against Resources Minister Madeleine King and the Northern Territory’s Minister for Mining Mark Monaghan as well as the Jabiluka Aboriginal Land Trust in the Federal Court of Australia.
It was “denied procedural fairness and natural justice in the decision-making process,” ERA argued in a statement, adding that it has asked the court to hear its application before the lease expires on August 11.
King’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rio Tinto, which owns roughly 80% of ERA but does not operate it, has said it will not support any development of the project given the Mirarr people’s opposition.
(Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Edwina Gibbs)
