UPDATE: Energy Resources Seeks Approval For Heap Leach Project

Energy Resources of Australia Ltd. (ERA.AU) said Monday it applied for government approval of a heap leach expansion project at the Ranger uranium mine in Australia's Northern Territory.

If approved, the heap leach facility will treat 10 million metric tons of low grade mineralized material a year, contained in stockpiles and the operating Ranger pit, to produce a total of 15,000 to 20,000 tons of uranium oxide.

Construction of the heap leach project would take about two years, a company spokesman said, and a pre-feasibility study is expected to be completed within the first half of 2009.

The Darwin-based miner, in which Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) holds a 68% stake, has also proposed to build an exploration decline to examine the extension of the Ranger ore body.

The Ranger mine has been in production since 1981, and mining is currently scheduled to cease in 2012-13.

Uranium output will continue from significant stockpiles at the mine until 2020-21.

"Some of those are relatively high-grade, and some of those are low grade. The heap leach facility is going to treat the low grade ore," the ERA spokesman said.

ERA is the world's fourth largest uranium producer, and the Ranger mine provides about 11% of global output. Last year it produced over 5,000 tons of uranium oxide.

-By Elisabeth Behrmann, Dow Jones Newswires;

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