A Perth-based company says exploration done in the 70s will allow it to fast-track a uranium mine near the community of Yuendemu in central Australia.
Energy Metals plans to mine uranium from a site called Bigrlyi, 400 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs.
The Exploration director, Lindsay Dudfield, says the records left by previous explorers have removed a lot of the guess work.
Mr Dudfield says Energy Metals will be pushing to mine the deposit within three to five years, putting it in the running to open the Northern Territory's next uranium mine.
"Our grade is certainly very attractive. A lot of the exploration risk has been removed by the exploration that was done by the previous companies and they have outlined a substantial amount of relatively high grade uranium mineralisation," he said.
The company believes the uranium deposits found could even be better quality than those at the Ranger mine in the Top End.
"For example, the average grade of the mineralisation being mined at Ranger is 2.2 kilograms per tonne so you know it's 50 per cent if you like better grade than that at Ranger. Albeit the resources are smaller."
Energy Minerals' claim that they will be the next to open a mine in the Territory has been refuted by a number of other mining companies, however, with each saying they will be the next to open.
The Sydney-based Compass Resources initially seemed most likely to open the first uranium mine since the Commonwealth took over the approvals process, forecasting mining near the town of Batchelor within five years.
But earlier this week the Perth-based Korab Resources suggested it could have a mine up and running in as few as two years.
Now another West Australian company says a deposit near Yuendemu, in central Australia, might be ready in three to five years.
But Mr Dudfied says he doubts the validity of the new claims.
"I wouldn't like to put a bet on it. We'll be trying very hard to move our project forward as fast as we can and hopefully we'll both get there about the same time," he said.
Energy Metals has a major exploratory drilling program planned for next year.
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