Shares are being sold to pay for the rehabilitation of the Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu. 

Energy Resources Australia (ERA), the operator of the decommissioned Ranger uranium mine located 250 kilometres east of Darwin in Kakadu National Park, aims to raise $369 million to continue the mine's rehabilitation. 

The current funding pool is expected to be depleted by September, with ERA having spent approximately $524 million on rehabilitation works so far. 

The total bill for the mine's rehabilitation has been estimated between $1.6 billion and $2.2 billion, but the figure is being revised. 

The company has turned to a share offer to generate revenue for the mine's cleanup, with the shares offered at $0.02, a 90 per cent discount on its five-day average price.

Rio Tinto, ERA's major shareholder, has committed to buying $319 million worth of the company's shares, while Packer & Co and Zentree Investments have pledged a further $36 million. 

The Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, representing the Mirarr traditional owners, has welcomed the capital-raising effort but has expressed concern over the exhausted operational cash-on-hand funds due by September.

ERA stated that the raised funds would be used to finance the mine's planned works until the end of 2024 and to repay a $100 million loan from Rio Tinto. 

The company's independent chairman, Rick Dennis, added that ERA was committed to rehabilitating the Ranger project area entirely and fulfilling its statutory and contractual obligations. 

The capital raising is an interim measure for ERA, with the company warning that another $210 million to $756 million might be necessary to cover the rest of the cost of the mine's rehabilitation. ERA plans to assess its funding options for the additional amount when the time is right, which could include another equity raise in 2024.

ERA's share offer of $0.02 is lower than the company hoped to sell its shares, as an independent valuation of the company's “fair value” in October found that it was about 20 cents per share. 

The Mirarr traditional owners and Rio Tinto opposed the report's suggestion that Jabiluka, the mineral lease owned by ERA and its uranium resource, could be mined. 

This led to the resignation of ERA's three independent directors several weeks later. 

According to ERA's announcement to the ASX this week, the offer of $0.02 per share was the only price at which the company could obtain pre-commitments for the minimum necessary funds required.