Energy Resources of Australia Ltd () is a public company based in Australia. It is a subsidiary of the Rio Tinto Group which as of 2021 owns 86.3% of the company. The remainder is publicly held and traded on the Australian Securities Exchange. The chairman is Peter McMahon and

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

is Andrea Sutton.

Production and sales

ERA is one of the largest

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

producers in the world, through the Ranger Uranium Mine in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

. Ranger mine is located near Jabiru, 260 km from Darwin in the Northern Territory. ERA sells its product to electric utilities in Asia, Europe and North America through an arrangement with Rio Tinto Uranium, which provides expertise in global uranium sales and marketing activities. Australia exports of uranium oxide are subject to strict safeguards and non-proliferation conditions to ensure that Australian uranium is only used for peaceful purposes. After more than 31 years of operations and the production of more than 110,000 tonnes of uranium oxide, open pit mining at Ranger mine ceased, with the closure of Pit 3 in November 2012.

Expansion

In August 2011, ERA approved $120 million for construction of an exploration decline to conduct close spaced underground exploration drilling and to explore areas adjacent to the Ranger 3 Deeps resource. The Ranger 3 Deeps mineralised zone is estimated to contain over 34,761 tonnes of uranium oxide, and is recognised as a significant resource by world standards. ERA is undertaking a $57 million Prefeasibility Study into the potential development of a Ranger 3 Deeps underground mine. The Prefeasibility Study will determine the economic viability of the proposed Ranger 3 Deeps underground mine, optimise mining methods and confirm metallurgical performance and production rates. ERA is targeting late 2015 for commencement of production if the underground mine proves viable and all Board and regulatory approvals are obtained.

Land ownership

Ranger mine is surrounded by, but separate from, Kakadu National Park, and the Mirarr clan of the Gaagadju

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

are the

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have right ...

of the land on which ERA operates. ERA also holds title to the nearby Jabiluka ore body further north, which is under a long term care and maintenance agreement and will not be developed without the agreement of the Mirarr traditional owners.

Environmental incidents

There have been a range of environmental incidents at the Ranger Uranium Mine with over 200 incidents documented,Regulating the Ranger, Jabiluka, Beverly and Honeymoon uranium mines - Appendix 6"
(PDF). Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Committee. 14 October 2003. including major incidents in 1995, 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2013.

References

External links

Energy Resources of Australia official websiteUranium mining and the question of corporate social responsibility
{{Mining companies of Australia Uranium mining companies of Australia Rio Tinto (corporation) subsidiaries 1980 establishments in Australia Companies based in Western Australia