"Uranium mining is a key industry for Australia," Ferguson told a conference in Sydney.

"We are already the world's third-largest uranium producer, with nearly half of the world's low-cost uranium reserves, and further opportunities on the horizon."

Ferguson said the massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake and devastating tsunami which hit Japan in March and caused extensive damage to a nuclear power plant at Fukushima had prompted concerns about the safety of nuclear power.

But he said the lessons learned from the Japanese crisis, which saw Australian uranium stocks plunge in the days after the tremor, would lead to a safer and more robust industry.

"In my view the industry will continue to develop, it will expand and emerge from the current difficult period safer and more resilient," he said.

The minister said that exports of uranium last year totalled nearly 7,000 tonnes -- down on recent years due in part to a shaft failure at the Olympic Dam site which has since been repaired.

But he said this was set to increase dramatically as global demand for uranium grew.

"If production meets predictions, tonnage will double within four years -- and quadruple within 20," Ferguson said.

His comments come after the government last week announced it would open parts of the remote South Australian desert site of Woomera -- currently home to military installations -- to mining, unlocking up to Aus$35 billion (US$37.5 billion) in mineral wealth.

"Geoscience Australia estimates three-quarters of our known uranium resources are in the Woomera Prohibited Area, which is roughly the size of England," Ferguson said.

"More exploration may well uncover even more potential.

-- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this story --

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