Discord at Four Mile uranium mine site

The minor partner in the Four Mile project Thursday outlined a major grievance with its partner Heathgate Resources

PERTH - 

The Four Mile uranium discovery in the shadow of the Flinders Range in South Australia was heralded four years ago as a great discovery and, being close to the Beverley uranium mine, it offered sound development economics.

The minor partner in the Four Mile uranium project, Alliance Resources Ltd (ASX: AGL) today detailed a major grievance with partner Heathgate Resources and issued claims of breach of contractual obligations in the Supreme Court of South Australia.

The project that was seen by many observers as the easiest to develop through grade, the size of resources and reserves, and proximity to Heathgate's in situ recovery (ISR) plant at Beverley has moved from the bitumum to a rocky road.

Alliance Resources Limited (Alliance), through its wholly owned subsidiary, Alliance Craton Explorer Pty Ltd (ACE), made claims in documents issued today as proceedings against Quasar

Resources Pty Ltd and its parent Heathgate Resources Pty Ltd.

Alliance claimed a breach of contractual obligation of good faith in the signing of a native title mining agreement for the Four Mile project that, in essence, left Alliance out of the picture.

The documentation had Alliance demanding there be a new native title agreement that relates only to Four Mile.

Alliance chairman John Dunlop said the native title agreement subsumes the existing native title agreement for the Beverley mine, "giving rise to potential liability for Alliance for matters pertaining to Beverley.

"Neither ACE nor Alliance were invited to participate in or were involved in the negotiations with the native title holders and neither were a signatory to the NTMA (Native Title Mining Agreement," the company said.

John Dunlop said as the NTMA has not been registered, a mining lease cannot be offered to the joint venture at this time and, therefore, on-site construction at Four Mile cannot commence.

Heathgate and its exploration arm Qasar are owned by the huge American group General Atomics.

Qualification: A member of the writer's family holds a small parcel of Alliance shares.

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