A company hoping to develop a uranium mine in Labrador is slashing its exploration budget for the coming year.

Aurora Energy last year spent more than $30 million on exploration and development plans for a new uranium mine.

For 2009, the budget is less than $6 million.

Apart from the crisis that has crippled mining and energy companies' plans around the world, Aurora is cooling its heels because of a three-year moratorium on uranium mining instituted by Nunatsiavut, the Inuit government in Labrador.

"We still find Labrador very attractive," said Andrea Marshall, manager of government and media relations.

"We have a significant resource there, so we want to make sure we are there for the long term. We just can't move forward in a hurried format because there is the moratorium in place, and we certainly can't move things forward in the pace with that in place."

Aurora's move comes on the heels of a similar move made earlier this month by competitor Crosshair Mining & Exploration Corp.

Last year, Crosshair carried out a $10-million exploration program as it sought out uranium in Labrador. This year, the company will spend only a few hundred thousand dollars, said president and chief executive officer Mark Morabito.

"It's just the bare minimum to maintain the ground under the law and we're committed to doing that for several years if we have to," Morabito told CBC News last week.

Aurora, which hired 80 people in Labrador last year, will this year hire eight.

Marshall said with the Nunatsiavut moratorium in place, the company did not want to burn through its reserves.

"We decided because we are in this condition it would be more appropriate to conserve our cash at this point," Marshall said.

Nunatsiavut president Jim Lyall said last week that he believes the economy — not the uranium moratorium — is behind Crosshair's decision. He said he expected the company would return with a stronger exploration program once economic conditions improve.

The moratorium involves land controlled by the Nunatsiavut government, primarily on Labrador's northern coast. The moratorium will last until March 2011.