Papua New Guinea: Opposition growing to disposal of mining waste in the ocean by Wafi-Golpu gold & copper mine
Résumé
Date indiquée: 9 Sep 2020
Lieu: Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée
Entreprises
Wafi-Golpu Project (Joint venture between Harmony Gold (50%) and Newmont (50%)) - Parent CompanyProjets
Wafi-Golpu - UnknownConcerné
Nombre total de personnes concernées: Chiffre inconnu
Communauté: ( Chiffre inconnu - Lieu inconnu - Secteur inconnu , Gender not reported )Enjeux
Peuples autochtones , Accès à l'eau , Pollution des eaux , Consultation insuffisante/inadéquate , Impact sur les aires d'importance ou protégéesRéponse
Response sought: Non
Type de source: News outlet
"PNG opposition grows to dumping mine waste at sea", 9 September 2020
Opposition to the disposal of mining waste in the ocean is growing in Papua New Guinea's Morobe province.
Companies behind the proposed Wafi-Golpu gold and copper mine near Lae plan to pump mine tailings into the Huon Gulf, a process they call Deep Sea Tailings Displacement (DSTD).
The former governor of Papua New Guinea's Morobe province, Keely Naru [said that] the mining companies behind the Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture, Harmony of South Africa and Newcrest from Australia, should be required to ship the tailings back to their countries of origin.
The current governor, Ginson Saonu, has also voiced his opposition to submarine tailings disposal, asking [...] why a traditional tailings dam could not be built on land.
Loop PNG reported the minister, Wera Mori, saying the area was prone to earthquakes and heavy rain that could break a tailings dam, making that option a "recipe for disaster".
Mori sited the collapse of the Ok Tedi tailings dam in Wetern Province in 1984, warning of similarities between the two areas.
[...]
Newcrest described the Western Huon Gulf as a "highly suitable environment" for tailings storage as "it hosts a deep canyon leading to a very deep oceanic basin".
[...]