Moore said that while the state government was steadfast in its policy to allow uranium mining, having overturned the six-year ban imposed by the previous government, it was equally keen to provide a regulatory framework that both attracted investments and ensured world best practices were followed.

"We might effectively have a uranium mine in the next few years," Moore said.



"[Yeelirrie] probably has progressed furthest because that was set up under the state agreement in the 1970s. A lot of the approvals have been done already in terms of tenement ownership and native title because it is pre-native title," Moore said.

He added that BHP could reach the finish line as the company had the money and expertise to undertake the project and align it to its existing uranium production at Olympic Dam.

However, the minister added there were other wildcards, including getting environmental approvals which typically take a long time, and softness in the uranium market that could delay the start-up date. And while the federal government advocates a pro export policy for uranium, the current coalition with the Greens could hamper the plan.

"It may well be that they may be persuaded by the Green fringe to invoke the federal environment legislation. I don't know. But at the end of the day they make the decision about whether or not a company can export yellowcake. So we can give all the approvals to mine and transport it, but if they can't export it, then the companies won't go into mining."

However, a uranium industry regulatory expert told MNP that the most the Greens could do is to protest and possibly threaten to withdraw support, but that is a "business risk that companies will be willing to take".

He added that BHP could also potentially benefit from its existing export license for the Olympic Dam operations if it was secured as a "non-source specific license," though the terms of the license were confidential.

But regardless of federal politics, the minister said the state government was keen to provide a regulatory regime for uranium mining and, as part of that, had asked the Centre for Geomechanics - a joint venture of University of Western Australia, Curtin University and CSIRO - to provide an independent assessment of the existing framework.

A report from the group is expected next March.

But Moore acknowledged there were challenges associated with getting project approval, especially in the face of community opposition such as the one in the Northern Territory where the government buckled under local protest against a plan for an exploration project near Alice Springs.

He stressed the importance of evaluating each project on its merits and that the process should not be dictated by politics.

"One of the reasons why we have such vigorous and successful mining activity is because the Mining Act is a good administrative tool for making sure that people are comfortable with what their rights are and obligations are, and so companies wanting to invest the sort of money that some of these projects cost are entitled to some certainty of process.

"So we have taken the view that the integrity of the Mining Act is important in the context of attracting investments.

"I found that for the Northern Territory government, it was very unfortunate from their perspective, because it now means that there will be a loss of confidence in the process. So why take the risk of investing your money in the Northern Territory if the government can just arbitrarily take away your rights?" Moore said.

In addition to the commitment to due diligence on uranium exploration, Moore also added that DMP was looking to harmonise the e-governance with various state agencies to expedite the approvals process.

"We are working with other agencies to use the internet more than in the past. At this time, all they can find is where they are in the DMP process," Moore explained.

"It might then say this has been referred to the EPA. So that is the end of their access. So now the minister for environment and myself are working on how to have a link between our website and DEC's [Department of Environment and Conservation] website, so that if this says they have been referred to DEC, they can flick across and find the same information and see where they are with EPA. The same with Department of Indigenous Affairs," he added.

The minister elaborated that the Exploration Incentive Scheme introduced during the global financial crisis had proved quite successful with more applications made than money allocated to the program.

DMP is implementing the second phase of the EIS and collecting crucial geological data for greenfields development.

"What the aeromagnetic survey is doing is flying planes backwards and forwards which is giving us a far better understanding of the geology of the greenfields areas," Moore said.

"Interestingly, even though we have an understanding of how much mineral wealth WA has, it is still largely underexplored. So we hope that work being done by geological survey will provide the sort of technical data that might be attractive for companies to go out there and spend the money to do the drilling."

Even as the department continues to chart administrative and policy priorities, Moore believes that such measures are required as the state is facing stiff competition from countries like Canada, which provides a similar political climate but possibly better fiscal regimes.

"We need to be cognisant of the fact that we have competition. We already get competition from Canada in a big way. So when the federal government announced the resource rent tax, it was the best decision ever made for Canada."

On the issue of the Minerals Resource Rent Tax, Moore reiterated his belief that the tax was disproportionate and unfairly penalised Western Australia for being resource-rich, with 70% of the tax being collected from the state.

However, he added that any state government response would be predicated on the exact legislative language that is introduced by the federal government.

"When we see the legislation, we'll see the colour of their eyes, and then we'll be in a better position to know what our legal position is," he said.

"But you can be certain that if there is any possibility that the state could affect a constitutional challenge and be successful in it, I know the government will give it a very serious consideration because it is a tax on Western Australia."