An Address to North

JABILUKA | THE NORTHERN TERRITORY

An address from the Mirrar people to North Ltd. shareholders meeting

My name is Christine Christopherson. I address the shareholders of North Limited today at the request of the Mirrar people - for whom I work as a project officer.

My mother's country adjoins the country of the Mirrar. I live with my children on Mirrar country. As many of you would be aware, a mining company you control, Energy Resources of Australia, is currently seeking to establish a uranium mine on Mirrar country. The mine is called Jabiluka. And for the Mirrar and many other people on the Kakadu region this uranium mine will mean the death of a culture and living tradition which has existed since time immemorial.

I know that there are many shareholders who have concerns about the impacts of mining on Aboriginal people, yet will have been convinced by North that the Jabiluka proposal can be justified because it will deliver royalty payments to Traditional Owners - or that it is proceeding in accordance with a 1982 agreement with the Northern Land Council.

The fact is that the Mirrar live in abject poverty and have suffered greatly as a result of the existing Ranger Uranium Mine despite the payments of royalties. Further, the Mirrar reject the legitimacy of the 1982 Agreement as being procured via deceit and duress.

However, I have not come here today to talk about the way we believe North misrepresents facts in their public relations material. Today I will concentrate on conveying to the shareholders of North some simple financial realities in relation to the Jabiluka proposal. To deliver a clear and frank message that the Jabiluka mine will become a cost nightmare to North. Those investors who do not heed the message that the Mirrar are sending to you today will suffer significant financial losses. That if ERA pushes ahead with the Jabiluka proposal it will become a financial albatross around the necks of the North shareholders.

The Mirrar people of the Kakadu region will fight this proposal until it is shut down by legal, political or economic means. The first financial issue which North shareholders should get very clear is that ERA will never be allowed to mill ore from Jabiluka at the Ranger mine. The Mirrar have made this abundantly clear on countless occasions and have the indisputable legal right to refuse consent to any Ranger milling option - a right agreed to by ERA in 1991 upon purchase of the Jabiluka agreement. More discerning North shareholders will realise that it will cost ERA between 150-200 million dollars on top of currently budgeted costs to mill Jabiluka onsite. To put this figure in perspective - it represents 5-9 times ERA's after tax profits for the last financial year.

If your Board or Executive tell you that the Ranger milling alternative will proceed we believe they are misleading you. If they say they are confident that they can persuade Traditional Owners to change their minds they are misleading themselves. If the Jabiluka proposal proceeds it will requite the construction of milling facilities at Jabiluka which we believe ERA cannot afford.

I encourage North shareholders to assess this massive cost imposition as an unavoidable financial reality and not risk your investment on the basis of bluff and bluster from the Executives of ERA and North.

On top of the $250 million extra you will pay to mill ore at Jabiluka there are many other additional costs which ERA will confront if they insist on proceeding with this proposal without Traditional Owner consent. Some of you may know there is a sacred Aboriginal site on top and within the uranium which ERA seeks to extract at Jabiluka. The Mirrar intend to register this site which has been identified by white anthropologists since at least 1978 and is well known to Aboriginal people throughout the region. The registration of this site and associated restricted areas will requite major alterations to current mining proposals. Some estimates of the costs of these alterations run into tens of millions of dollars - tens of millions of dollars which are not currently budgeted for.

In addition ERA will need to negotiate with Traditional Owners to construct a road to carry avid and other materials between the proposed Jabiluka mine and the Ranger Project Area. The costs of these negotiations will be considerable.

The Mirrar are currently taking legal action under two sets of proceedings and will shortly launch another. If the Mirrar are even partially successful in just one of these cases, your investment will be further damaged. Further, the Mirrar have successfully conveyed to a UNESCO fact-finding mission that their living tradition for which Kakadu National Park has received World Heritage status is under serious threat from the Jabiluka proposal. The Mission may recommend that the mine be stopped - at the very least it seems certain that a range of corrective measures will be recommended by the World Heritage Committee as a result of the UNESCO investigation.

The potential costs of these corrective measures to ERA are significant. There are many other matters which ERA and North shareholders are going to encounter crippling cost additions if they insist on developing the Jabiluka mine. Time constraints do not allow me to address these financial dangers in details but I can provide written evidence upon request.

Moreover, the Mirrar will do everything legal and legitimate in their power to ensure that the Jabiluka mine is halted. In the coming months the existing legal, political and international campaigns conducted by the Mirrar will expand into the financial markets. To this end the Mirrar will attack ERA's diminishing financial credibility at every turn in order to protect their country and their people. North's statement in its Annual Report that it would not support the Jabiluka mine if it damaged the environment must extend to damage to the traditional social environment of the Mirrar.

The Mirrar are the only people who can assess the impact of the Jabiluka mine on their society and they clearly stated that the impact of the Jabiluka mine will be devastating. North cannot simply undertake to protect the environment - they are also required to undertake consideration of the effect of mining activity on the Aboriginal people of Kakadu.

The actions of North in relation to Jabiluka have been a tragic betrayal of the principles contained in the charter of the Reconciliation Council. It is highly inappropriate that the Chairman of North sits on this Council and in light of his company's attack on the Mirrar people, the Mirrar call on him to resign immediately. Yet it appears that the leadership of North and ERA are intent on ignoring the Mirrar.

I stand here today proud and resolute to warn the shareholders of North that you ignore the Mirrar at your imminent financial peril. The Mirrar will fight the Jabiluka mine to the end. So for your own financial sake, as well as the future of the Mirrar, I encourage you to do everything in your power as shareholders to prevent the Jabiluka mine proceeding.

Thank you.