Labrador uranium moratorium under review

Tuesday, 20 September 2011 The working, production, mining and development of uranium on Inuit lands is under review by the regional Nunatsiavut Assembly in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Following a vote by the assembly to review a moratorium on uranium, a special committee chaired by lands and natural resources minister Glen Sheppard will begin a public consultation process for completion by early December. Sheppard said a bill to remove the restriction on uranium would be presented during the next session of the Nunatsiavut Assembly if a special committee recommends it after legislative reviews. Any such legislation would be likely to come into force by 9 March 2012. Labrador is home to the Michelin and Jacques Lake uranium deposits, with measured and indicated resources of 35,000 tonnes of U3O8 (29,600 tU), plus over 16,000 t U3O8 (13,600 tU) of inferred resources.