People's attitudes to nuclear have ‘softened’

Nuclear power advocates are hoping the recommendations of a royal commission by a retired state governor will give fresh impetus on Monday for uranium-rich Australia to develop a nuclear industry, with a focus on hi-tech storage of spent nuclear fuel rods and other waste, and small-version, modular nuclear reactors, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Kevin Scarce, who was governor of South Australia for seven years until 2014, will unveil the preliminary findings on Monday of his Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission after 128 witnesses and almost 12 months of investigations both locally and overseas into whether the state should expand into nuclear enrichment, storage of waste and power generation.

The value of ASX gold miners jumped $3 billion last week

About $3 billion in market value was added to the thriving Australian gold sector last week. And collective market capitalisation has increased by $7.9 billion to $26.6 billion in the past three months, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

A collective $3 billion in market value has been added to the thriving Australian gold sector in the past week as established producers and junior project developers alike continue their golden run.

An analysis of the bulk of the Australian Securities Exchange-listed gold sector revealed its collective market capitalisation had increased by $7.9 billion to $26.6 billion in the past three months.

Rio Tinto’s Simandou iron ore dream looks like it is dying

Andy Forster, senior investment officer at Rio Tinto shareholder Argo Investments, says it was “unlikely” Rio would pursue the Simandou iron ore project in the next decade, pointing to its challenging location in Africa and infrastructure needs, according to the Australian Financial Review.

When asked if the project was on his radar he said, “nowhere near it”.