IMA warns on ban on use of STP system
IMA warns on ban on use of STP system
JAKARTA (JP): The development of the country's mining sector could suffer a major setback if the government bans the use of the submarine tailing placement (STP) system in mining operations, according to the Indonesian Mining Association (IMA).
IMA executive director Paul L. Coutrier said over the weekend that if the ban was imposed it would certainly discourage mining development in resource-rich provinces.
"If the method is banned, it will halt mining development, particularly in the resource-rich provinces of eastern Indonesia and Sumatra," he was quoted by the Bisnis Indonesia daily as saying.
The pressure to ban undersea tailing disposal has been mounting following allegations by the Network for Mining Advocacy (Jatam) and the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) that the tailing disposal method applied by PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in North Sulawesi and its affiliate, gold and copper mining company PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, in West Nusa Tenggara has resulted in massive pollution.
The two organizations also asked the government to halt both companies' operations in the country.
Coutrier said that the allegations were inaccurate because the water quality was better and the metal content in the area surrounding the disposal grounds was less that the respective minimum and maximum levels set by the government.
He added that the two companies' tailing disposal systems reached sea depths of more than 100 meters, which was quite safe as only a few marine creatures could live at such depths.
Newmont, a subsidiary of the United States-based Newmont Corporation, also denied the accusation, saying that its operations' disposal systems had been categorically proven not to harm the environment, and were permitted in the U.S. and Canada.
The government is still assessing the impact of the practice prior to giving its verdict.
Newmont Minahasa Raya has been implementing the undersea disposal method since 1996 to dispose of tailings, or mineral waste, amounting to about 2,000 tons a day in Buyat bay, Minahasa, North Sulawesi.
Its affiliate, Newmont Nusa Tenggara, has been using the disposal system since June 2000 to dump its tailing waste in the waters off West Nusa Tenggara. (05)