The Wiluna uranium mine is a proposed

uranium mine Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. Over 50 thousand tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account f ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The mine project, owned by Toro Energy Ltd, is located south of the mining town of Wiluna. The original proposal was to establish

open cut Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

mines at

Lake Way Lake Way is a dry saline lake located in the Mid West region of Western Australia, approximately south of Wiluna. It also gives its name to a nearby cattle station, the Lake Way Station. Description The lake, dry except during exceptional ...

and Centipede deposits."Toro Energy gets EPA greenlight for Wiluna uranium project"
''Perth Now''. In 2013, the Wiluna project became the first uranium mine to receive all necessary approvals in the state of Western Australia since the ban on uranium mining was repealed there in 2008. Federal environmental approval for the mine's development was granted under the

EPBC Act The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

in April 2013.

Status

Toro Energy had planned to commission and construct the mine in 2013 and make their first sales in 2014 or 2015 but as of 2020, mining is yet to commence. The project has sought extensions to the original project to include additional deposits Lake Maitland and Millipede. An expansion of the project was approved by the EPA in 2016."Environmental approval for Western Australia's most advanced uranium mine"
''ABC''. Retrieved 2016-10-20. The mine was originally proposed to operate for 14 years, producing of

Uranium oxide Uranium oxide is an oxide of the element uranium. The metal uranium forms several oxides: * Uranium dioxide or uranium(IV) oxide (UO2, the mineral uraninite or pitchblende) * Diuranium pentoxide or uranium(V) oxide (U2O5) * Uranium trioxide or u ...

over that period, though more recent projects suggest 16 years of mining potential. Once operating, containers of uranium oxide would be transported to

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

and exported from there.

References

External links

*
MINEDEX website: Lake Way / Toro
Database of the

Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety is a department of the Government of Western Australia. The department was formed on 1 July 2017, out of the former Department of Mines and Petroleum and Department of Commerce. A restr ...

{{coord, -26.8340, 120.3605, format=dms, display=title Uranium mining in Western Australia Mines in Western Australia Shire of Wiluna Uranium mines in Australia