New Brunswick's Opposition Conservatives are demanding that the government hold a referendum regarding uranium exploration in the province, but Liberals say that's unnecessary.

"We've discussed and debated this issue many times in the legislature when they asked for a moratorium," said Natural Resources Minister Donald Arseneault. "We're not going to have a moratorium on uranium exploration here in New Brunswick and we're not going to move forward on a referendum either."

Vale Inco is exploring for uranium south and west of Moncton and smaller companies are also looking for deposits in the province.

Conservative MLA John Betts said the government should call for the vote because there is a lot of opposition to the exploration and mining of uranium in the province.

The referendum would disprove the government's argument that a so-called silent majority supports the exploration, he said.

Betts said he attended a public meeting on uranium exploration in Moncton and found many people who were opposed to it.

"I went to the Capitol Theatre and didn't know what to expect," Betts said. "I thought maybe it would 15 to 20 tree-huggers, quite frankly. What I found was the place was packed and they were people from all walks of life. They were very concerned."

The last referendum held in New Brunswick was in 2001 regarding the video gambling industry.

The industry led a huge campaign that outspent the grassroots anti-gambling groups and resulted in the defeat of the ban on video gambling.

Betts said he is confident that even if the companies spent money to support their stance on the referendum the public would still vote against allowing the mining in the province.

"The companies could spend a lot of money trying to say, 'Look, this geologist says this is safe, and this is safe and that's safe.' But people also have the option. They're going to the internet, they're reading newspapers, they're listening to radio, and they're finding out that look, in these places in Ontario, in Sudbury, Elliot Lake, Rabbit Lake, up in Saskatchewan, this is what happened," Betts said.

Public information sessions the government is holding next month will help the public understand the exploration and mining of uranium, Arseneault said.

The government has already rejected a moratorium on uranium exploration that the Conservatives called for.

Uranium exploration will bring economic benefits to the province, said the minister. Mineral exploration investments totalled about $32 million in the province last year, he said. Over $100 million was also spent on the development of mining operations in New Brunswick.

The public information sessions will be held on June 4 at the Hugh John Flemming Forestry Centre in Fredericton and the next will be June 5 at Capitol Theatre in Moncton.

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