Moratoria and Bans on Uranium Exploration and Mining
(last updated 13 Jun 2024)
in effect · repealed
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Canada · USA · Denmark · Greenland · Ireland · Sweden · Spain · Kyrgyzstan · Australia · New Zealand
On April 24, 2008, British Columbia imposed a ban on uranium exploration.
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On February 27, 1980, the B.C. Minister of Mines had announced a seven-year moratorium on the recording of mineral claims for the purpose of uranium exploration and the development of uranium deposits on existing claims. The moratorium expired in 1987.
On March 28, 2013, Québec imposed a moratorium on uranium development in the province, until an impact study is completed
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Nova Scotia has had a moratorium on uranium exploration and mining since 1982. If a company finds uranium in concentrations greater than 100 parts per million, it must report those results and stop digging.
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On April 29, 2005, Navajo Nation President Joseph Shirley Jr. signed the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act of 2005 that outlaws uranium mining and processing on the Navajo reservation.
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> See also New Uranium Mining Projects - Navajo Nation, USA
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar formally signed a 20-year moratorium on new uranium and other hard rock mining claims on a million acres of federal lands around the Grand Canyon on January 9, 2012.
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The Hualapai Tribal Council has voted to ban uranium mining on its Tribal lands which are located near the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
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Uranium mining has been barred in Virginia by a 25-year-old moratorium.
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Greenland did not allow any uranium mining or prospecting to take place on the island. On Nov. 27, 2008, however, the Greenland parliament agreed to support the extraction of uranium as a by-product from mines where other minerals are the primary target. And, on Oct. 24, 2013, the Greenland parliament completely lifted the so-called zero-tolerance uranium policy.
On Nov. 9, 2021, Greenland's parliament reinstated a ban on uranium exploration and uranium mining.
(view details).
Uranium prospection licenses denied in Donegal
On May 16, 2018, the Swedish Parliament (Riksdagen) passed an amendment to the Environmental Code banning uranium exploration and mining in the country.
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On May 13, 2021, the Spanish parliament approved the Law on Climate Change, putting an end to new applications for the mining of hydrocarbons and uranium.
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On June 20, 2017, the Western Australia state government introduced a ban on new uranium mine projects.
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South Australia has proclaimed a mining ban for the Arkaroola region of the Flinders Ranges.
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The Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) Act 1986 prohibits mining for uranium. A ban for uranium exploration was repealed on March 28, 2012.
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> View Uranium Mining Legislation Bibliography
The Nuclear Activities (Prohibitions) Act 1983 prohibits exploration and mining for uranium.
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> View Uranium Mining Legislation Bibliography
Under a 1996 minerals programme, prospecting, exploration and mining of uranium are no longer permitted.
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Canada · Australia
On March 8, 2012, Labrador's Inuit government enacted legislation to lift the moratorium on uranium mining on Labrador Inuit Lands that had been imposed on April 8, 2008.
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On Dec. 16, 2019, the Kyrgyz president signed a law banning uranium exploration and mining.
On June 13, 2024, Kyrgyzstan's parliament lifted the ban.
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The Queensland state government policy prohibited uranium mining in 1989.
On Oct. 22, 2012, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman announced he is ending the state's decades-long ban on uranium mining.
On Mar. 14, 2015, the newly elected Labor state government announced its intention to reinstate the ban.
> View Queensland lifts ban on uranium mining
The Uranium Mining and Nuclear Facilities (Prohibitions) Act 1986 prohibits prospecting or mining for uranium.
However, on March 28, 2012, the New South Wales parliament repealed the ban on uranium exploration.
> View Uranium Mining Legislation Bibliography
> See also: New South Wales to review ban on uranium mining
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