Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
adult/child) depart at 6.45am, 9am and 4.30pm; 1½-hour cruises ($68/47) leave at
11.30am, 1.15pm and 2.45pm.
Guluyambi Cultural Cruise
INDIGENOUS
( 1800 895 175;
www.kakaduculturaltours.com.au
; adult/child $61/40; 9am, 11am, 1pm &
3pm May-Nov)
S
Launch into an Aboriginal-led river cruise from the upstream boat ramp
on the East Alligator River near Cahill's Crossing.
Kakadu Culture Camp
INDIGENOUS
( night cruise 1800 811 633, overnight 0428 792 048;
www.kakaduculturecamp.com
)
S
Aboriginal-owned and -operated cruises on the Djarradjin Billabong; three-hour night
cruise (per adult/child $80/50), and five-hour cruise-plus-dinner tours ($260/180). Tours
depart from Muirella Park campground.
URANIUM MINING
It's no small irony that some of the world's biggest deposits of uranium lie within
one of Australia's most beautiful national parks. In 1953 uranium was discovered in
the Kakadu region. Twelve small deposits in the southern reaches of the park were
worked in the 1960s, but were abandoned following the declaration of Woolwonga
Wildlife Sanctuary.
In 1970 three huge deposits − Ranger, Nabarlek and Koongarra − were found, fol-
lowed by Jabiluka in 1971. The Nabarlek deposit (in Arnhem Land) was mined in
the late 1970s, and the Ranger Uranium Mine started producing ore in 1981.
While all mining in the park has been controversial, it was Jabiluka that brought
international attention to Kakadu and pitted conservationists and indigenous own-
ers against the government and mining companies. After uranium was discovered
at Jabiluka in 1971, an agreement to mine was negotiated with the local Aboriginal
peoples. The Jabiluka mine became the scene of sit-in demonstrations during
1998 that resulted in large-scale arrests. In 2003 stockpiled ore was returned into
the mine and the decline tunnel leading into the deposit was backfilled as the min-
ing company moved into dialogue with the traditional landowners, the Mirrar
people.
In February 2005 the current owners of the Jabiluka mining lease, Energy Re-
sources of Australia (ERA), signed an agreement that gave the Mirrar the deciding
vote on any resumption of this controversial mining project. Under the deal, ERA is
allowed to continue to explore the lease, subject to Mirrar consent. In 2011 the tra-
ditional owners of the Koongarra lease, near Nourlangie, rejected the promise of
millions of dollars from French nuclear power conglomerate Areva and requested
