Coalition remains quiet on mining giants profiting from its nuclear push

Mining multinationals may be set for a huge windfall if the Coalition wins the forthcoming election and a nationwide ban is lifted on uranium mining - the caged bull of the Australian stock exchange.

However, after decades of mining powerhouses reaping huge profits for shareholders, it remains unknown as to how Mr Dutton will navigate corporate profitability while achieving his nuclear vision of lowering energy bills and the cost of living for everyday Australians.

He was asked whether the Coaition would use Commonwealth powers to compulsorily acquire uranium deposits from current owners, including mining giants, despite flagging that it could pull levers to seize control of privately-owned coal-fired power plants and steamroll state nuclear bans.

Three uranium mines presently operate in Australia with Ranger in the Northern Territory majority owned by Rio Tinto, while BHP's Olympic Dam and Beverley with Four Mile, owned and operated by US-based company General Atomics, are based in South Australia.

However, other companies, such as Paladin Energy, own deposits across the country and could experience an explosion in share price if the Coalition wins government.

According to a Morgan Stanley note, "Paladin's Australia resource base is currently impacted by uranium mining bans in Australia, but we note that the political stance on this may be changing."

Australia's uranium reserves are the world's largest, with around one-third of global resources. Australia is also the world's fourth largest producer behind Kazakhstan, Canada and Namibia.

Uranium mining is currently approved in the Northern Territory and South Australia, while exploratory licenses are able to be issued in NSW. However, that state, along with Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland, have outlawed uranium mining.

A ban of uranium mining was introduced in WA seven years ago while exempting four projects approved prior to 2017, however three of those have subsequently fallen over.

Meanwhile, the fallout has spread far and wide after Opposition leader Peter Dutton announced seven proposed sites for nuclear power plants on retiring coal-fired power stations earlier this month and drew the battle lines ahead of the forthcoming election.

Mr Dutton, who sparked a national debate of nuclear proportions, revealed that the nuclear plants were being seen as "an asset of between 80 and 100 years" and would be owned by the Commonwealth.

He also said the Coalition would firstly work with energy companies that currently own the coal stations, recognising that "some have a position at the moment because they're heavily invested into renewables", who have ruled out selling the assets.

However, he flagged compulsory acquisition was on the table if that failed by applying a national interest test that would deem the sites part of the national grid.

"Then the legal advice that we have is the Commonwealth has ample power to compulsorily acquire that site with just compensation," he said.

"When you look at some of these millionaires pretending to be billionaire green investors, their job is to take taxpayers' money and increase prices for electricity and turn that into a bottom line profit for them and for their families.

"There's no sense pretending that our economy can operate without a stable energy system. How do we reduce electricity prices instead of increasing them so that there can be greater profits for these billionaires?"

However, while shadow energy minister Ted O'Brien said last week that there is "plenty of time in due course to talk about the costings", his office has so far not responded to questions relating to how the Commonwealth would acquire the uranium needed to run the plants.

Mr O'Brien and Mr Dutton have been asked by ACM-Agri, with both failing to respond, as to whether the Coalition would seek to secure ownership of all uranium deposits within Australia to ensure continuity of supply, reliability of cost and to shore up issues around sovereignty and national security.

Or whether the government planned to work with companies on extraction and how it intended for companies to be paid and if the Coalition would seek to offer contracts for providing the minerals rather than allowing mining companies to set the price.

They were also asked if the Coalition had investigated what legislative or Constitutional powers it may have to take over proprietary rights given its plans are for the plants to be part of the grid for many decades and to avoid the nation being at the mercy of commercial forces over the life span of the technology.

However, Mr O'Brien was quoted as saying on Thursday that lifting uranium restrictions "would leverage a genuine competitive advantage" for the nation.

"For all Labor's talk, Australia already is a clean energy super power, shipping uranium to power zero-emissions nuclear power plants the world over despite having no plants of our own," he said.

"Australia should also lift the moratorium on nuclear energy so that we can use our own resources to decarbonise our economy."

He added that there was "no credible pathway to net zero by 2050 without zero-emissions nuclear energy, which is why it is so important that we unlock our uranium reserves".

Meanwhile, the Coalition has also argued that there is a growing uptake of nuclear energy around the world while global supply could be outstripped by demand by 2040, according to the World Nuclear Association.

The US is one nation declaring that it will increase nuclear energy production in some capacity and would source its nuclear fuel from within its own borders and allies after placing a ban on Russian uranium recently.

The situation of private companies supplying materials needed for assets of national importance in a free market could therefore become extremely problematic with increasing demand.

However, there is currently a national moratorium written into law on nuclear energy and five of the seven sites proposed by the Coalition are in states that also have legislated nuclear bans.

The proposed sites, as revealed by ACM Agri several weeks ago, are retired or retiring coal-fired power stations located at Mount Piper and Liddell in New South Wales, Loy Yang in Victoria, Tarong in the federal seat of Maranoa, held by Nationals leader David Littleproud, and Callide in Queensland, Port Augusta in South Australia and Collie in the southwest corner of Western Australia.

Three state governments have already refused to consider lifting the bans and while government's change, it does not help that the shadow government's in those states have pledged the same.

There have also been little public discussions over where nuclear waste dumps will be dug and what routes the waste will be taken from reactors on public roads to those sites.