18 October 2019

The spill of thousands of litres of mining slurry off Madang's coast resulted from an overflow at the Ramu nickel mine site, a Papua New Guinea government agency says.

The Conservation and Environment Protection Authority had been investigating the overflow, which had led to bans on the catching and consumption of fish from the Basamuk Bay....

...Environment Minister Geoffrey Kama said 60 percent of the slurry was contained, the Post Courier reports.

The results of samples taken showed that there was no major interference on the composition of the seawater.

The minister told Parliament the area was safe for swimming and recreational purposes.

However, he said the ban on fishing and consumption of fish remained until the Authority could establish if the fish were contaminated with heavy metals residue.