ABC Radio News: Jabiluka should be protected not mined

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Kakadu National Park Traditional Owners have expressed outrage after Energy resources of Australia indicated it will apply to renew the lease of its controversial Jabiluka uranium deposit next year.

The site lies within Kakadu.

Energy Resources of Australia's majority shareholder, Rio Tinto, has long promised the Jabiluka uranium site would not be mined without the consent of the Mirarr people. But in its most recenty half-yearly statement, ERA says it will seek to renew the lease when it expiures in August next year.

In a statement Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation says it opposes the extension of the lease and wants the NT Government to protect Jabiluka from mining under Territory law.

The Mirarr people have objected to any mining at Jabiluka for decades with thousands of protestors blockading the site in 1998.