17 June 2020

As early as 2010, landowners living along the coast of the Bismarck Sea in Papua New Guinea (PNG) sought and won an injunction to stop mine tailings from the Ramu nickel-cobalt mine from entering Basamuk Bay via a pipe system coming from the processing plant. [...]

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[...] [T]he Supreme Court found that the mine could go ahead because of the possible economic ramifications for PNG of cancelling the permit that had already been granted, but ordered the mine to carry out regular environmental monitoring of the impacts of the tailings in the marine environment. [...]

In August 2019, the mine's tailings transport system failed, spilling tailings that were on their way to the seabed near the shore, and turning the waters of the Bismarck Sea a bright red. A scientific report of the spill provided to the provincial government notes "alarmingly high level of contamination" in the ocean, natural water bodies, coastal communities, and agriculture.

MiningWatch Canada and US-based Earthworks have twice written to Toronto-based Conic Metals, which says its "asset base is underpinned by" its joint venture interest in the Ramu mine, in February and March. We have sought further information about the spill, about Conic Metals' response to the scientific report on the spill, and about the monitoring reports of the effects of the tailings disposal system that were mandated by the Supreme Court of PNG in 2011. Conic Metals touts itself as a company focused on metals for the energy transition required by climate change and one that "aims to conduct its business openly and with honesty and integrity, and strives to create an organizational culture that endorses ethical conduct and conforms to best practices." We have had no response from the company to our letters.