Updated June 21, 2017 21:14:44

Photo: Mike Young's Vimy Resources has until December 2021 to get a uranium mine online. (ABC News: Kathryn Diss)

Uranium firms are unfazed by a potential five-year deadline to get their projects up and running in WA, after the State Government would not guarantee approvals on existing projects would be extended.

The State Government yesterday reintroduced a uranium mining ban in WA, in line with an election commitment, but it cannot stop four projects that already had ministerial approvals from proceeding.

However, those projects' approvals will expire five years from being issued, and WA Premier Mark McGowan has warned companies his Government would be seeking legal advice on whether they would need to be renewed.

Chief executive of the Andrew Forrest-backed Vimy Resources, Mike Young, is in no doubt that his company's Mulga Rock project will be the state's first uranium mine.

"We're confident that we will start substantive works before 2021," he said.

Mr Young also confirmed his company had made investor presentations in recent months which stated the Government had reassured them "projects approved by the previous government will be able to proceed", although the Government only publicly clarified its policy yesterday.

The other two uranium companies looking to develop projects in WA were also unsurprised by yesterday's announcement.

Toro Energy general manager Andrew Worland said he was comfortable with the State Government's uranium policy because it provided certainty.

"It's consistent with what was said prior to the election and immediately subsequent to the election," he said.

"Their policy statement is not surprising to us.

"Had it have been in another direction, it would have been flabbergasting."

Photo: Toro Energy's uranium project at Wiluna, about 1,000km north-east of Perth, got the green light in January. (Toro Energy: Toro Energy)

Cameco could present the McGowan Government with its first uranium challenge in early 2020, when the Canadian uranium giant could need to apply for fresh approvals for its Kintyre project.

But its Australian general manager, Simon Williamson, said it was too early to judge how Mr McGowan's pledge to potentially not approve new applications would affect Kintyre.

The remaining three projects would not need to seek new ministerial approvals, if required, until after the next state election in 2021.

Even if Labor won that election and kept the current uranium policy, it could get caught up in legal arguments with companies over whether they needed to seek new ministerial approvals.

One factor which could influence whether projects are deemed to have met the terms of their ministerial approval by the five-year deadline is the interpretation of the term "substantially commenced".

For example, in Toro's ministerial approval statement for its Wiluna project, it said "any commencement of any implementation of the proposal ... must be demonstrated as substantial".

"I'll wait until the time's right to spend the money to determine from a legal perspective what we think that definition is," Mr Worland said.

Topics: uranium-mining, industry, wa

First posted June 21, 2017 20:35:12