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Swire starts trial uranium shipment from Darwin

<p>Swire Shipping and Adelaide-Darwin rail operator FreightLink have begun a first trial shipment of yellowcake uranium ore from Darwin. </p> <p>Four containers arrived in a secure area at the port on Sunday (January 16), and will sail for a final destination in North America this week. </p> <p>The shipment is from WMC Resources’ Olympic Dam and Beverley mines at Roxby Downs in South Australia. </p> <p>WMC has approval for a three-month trial shipping period.</p> <p>Andrew Weir’s Bank Line, which was taken over by the Swire group in mid-2003, previously lifted uranium cargoes to Europe but from ERA’s Ranger mine in the Northern Territory.</p> <p>The trade has been the target of a protest campaign in Australia and overseas, and environmental groups have already complained at the lack of public consultation on the shipments. </p> <br />