Kakadu uranium site clean-up in limbo amid calls to revive mine

Funding for the multibillion-dollar clean-up of the Ranger uranium mine, carved out of the Kakadu national park in the Northern Territory, has been thrown into limbo due to a corporate stoush over attempts to revive mining in the area.

Rio Tinto, the majority shareholder in Energy Resources Australia, which owns the tapped-out Ranger mine and the neighbouring Jabiluka deposit, says it wants to fund the clean-up of Ranger and will not develop Jabiluka without the consent of traditional owners. The Mirrar people, whose lands cover both mining leases, are adamantly opposed to any further mining.

But minority shareholders in ERA have been pushing for the company to consider reopening Jabiluka and look into a project mining deep below Ranger, which was previously rejected as uneconomic.

If accepted , the valuation could enable minority shareholders who bought into ERA at about 15c a share in 2019 to cash out at 20c or more.

However, both the Mirrar people and Rio furiously reject the idea mining might resume.

Instead, they want to get on with rehabilitating the Ranger site, a vast open-pit scar across the landscape. Estimates on this rehabilitation work range from $1.6bn to $2.2bn.

The land was supposed to be restored to a similar state to the surrounding national park and handed back to the commonwealth by 2026.

But this month the Albanese government introduced legislation to parliament abolishing the deadline, which all involved agree was not going to be met.

This week the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the Mirrar people, said generations of traditional owners were, and would continue to be, opposed to mining.

The Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation supports the stance taken by Rio.

On the other side of the argument is Perth investor Willy Packer, and the Investigator Trust, which owns 7.9% of ERA and is run by his company, Packer & Co.

He said the deposit could be worth even more if uranium prices went back to their historical highs as demand for clean energy increases.

Another key player has been Singaporean fund Zentree Investments, run by trader Richard Magides. At one stage in 2019 Zentree owned about 16.5% of ERA, but since then its holdings appear to have dipped below the 5% threshold at which they need to be disclosed, although Magides told Guardian Australia that Zentree still owns shares in the company.

In late 2019, Zentree objected to ERA raising capital to help fund the Ranger clean-up on the grounds that it was unfair to minority shareholders.

Magides said Zentree invested in the company after its management visited Singapore and showed him a plan to develop Ranger 3 Deeps.

Grant Thornton defended its work on the valuation report, saying it followed the framework set out in the Corporations Act.