Cameco pledge on uranium mine

Daniel Burdon

10Jun08

A MAN who has negotiated leases on both sides of the table was in Alice Springs last week for mining giant Cameco's first official talks with traditional owners of the proposed Angela-Pamela uranium mine site south of the town.

Indigenous Canadian Gary Merasty, a former Cree tribal chief, is vice-president of Cameco's newly-formed corporate and social responsibility department.
He said: "Our main commitments are to three things: people, planet and profit _ and if the mine goes ahead we are focussed on creating lasting jobs for Aboriginal people in the area."
An advocate for indigenous employment through the mining industry, Mr Merasty believes in Cameco's policy of training and employing as many Aboriginal people as possible.
He said: "Cameco has the world's largest uranium mine, at MacArthur River, Saskatchewan in Canada's north, and more than 50 per cent of employees at that mine are Aboriginal."
Mr Merasty's job is to develop a corporate and social responsibility policy for the company. He said Cameco had been instrumental in creating hundreds of jobs for First Nations People across Canada.
He said: "It has taken 20 years, I mean, we're talking generational change here, but once we get some people in as labour, then over time we can up-skill more people for more technical jobs."
Mr Merasty said that several high-end management positions in Cameco's corporate structure are filled by indigenous Canadians that the company had trained.

He said the main concerns of traditional owners during consultation were about jobs, a future for the youth and of wanting to know the truth about mining uranium.
He said: "They are not these big ecological or environmental concerns that have often been raised in the media.
"A lot of that is just anti-nuclear propaganda _ we have the world's highest regulations concerning both ends of the nuclear cycle in Canada, and I believe it is much the same here."
Cameco operated a uranium mine at Port Hope in Ontario until last month when the mine sprung a "minor leak" that was feared to be reaching the town's water supply.
The leak has not been confirmed to have effected the water supply but caused the mine to shut down "until further notice".
Alice Springs anti-nuclear lobbyist Natalie Wasley, of the Beyond Nuclear Initiative, said: "In terms of opportunities for local people getting jobs _ uranium mines need highly specialised staff and there's a skills shortage on those so there really isn't that many opportunities for local people to work there if a mine starts up.
"I'm also not reassured by the idea of world's best practice _ Cameco has admitted they have had problems overseas.
"They can say they can minimise the risks, but they cannot guarantee there won't be problems in the long-term."
Cameco will have a stall at the Alice Springs Show,  and it has invited members of the public with concerns to come along and ask questions.