BHP plans major new Australian uranium mineGlobal resources giant BHP Billiton BHP Billiton is the world's largest mining company.[1] Its origin is in the 2001 merger of Australia's Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) and the UK's Billiton, which has a South African background. The result is a dual-listed company. announced plans to develop a major new uranium mine in Western Australia Western Australia, state (1991 pop. 1,409,965), 975,920 sq mi (2,527,633 sq km), Australia, comprising the entire western part of the continent. It is bounded on the N, W, and S by the Indian Ocean. Perth is the capital. after the state lifted a ban on production of the nuclear fuel. The company said it planned to begin producing uranium at its Yeelirrie site in 2014, boosting Australian output of the fuel as demand for nuclear energy grows in countries such as China and India. "Current plans project construction commencing in 2011, with initial production from the mine in 2014, subject to government and BHP Billiton board approvals," BHP said in a statement. The conservative Liberal Party took power in Western Australia last year and lifted a de facto [Latin, In fact.] In fact, in deed, actually. This phrase is used to characterize an officer, a government, a past action, or a state of affairs that must be accepted for all practical purposes, but is illegal or illegitimate. ban on uranium mining Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. As uranium ore is mostly present at relatively low concentrations, most uranium mining is very volume-intensive, and thus tends to be undertaken as open-pit mining. in the state imposed by the previous centre-left Labor government. Australia has the world's largest known reserves of uranium but only three mines operate in the country, while several more have been proposed. BHP said it expects to produce an average of 5,000 tonnes of uranium a year at Yeelirrie, about 500 kilometres (300 miles) north of Kalgoorlie. The company has submitted details of the proposal to state and federal environmental authorities. Australia has 36 percent of the world's known uranium resources. It exported 10,139 tonnes of uranium oxide Uranium oxide is an oxide of the element uranium. The metal uranium forms several oxides:
-- Dow Jones Newswires Dow Jones Newswires is the real-time financial news organization owned by Dow Jones. Founded in 1882, its primary competitors are Bloomberg L.P. and Reuters. The company reports more than 420,000 subscribers -- including brokers, traders, analysts and fund managers -- as of July contributed to this report -- 
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