Newmont says its mining doesn't pollute the sea
Newmont says its mining doesn't pollute the sea
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Indonesia's PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara
Tuesday denied accusations that tailing from its Batu Hijau
copper and gold mining operations pollute the sea in the Indian
Ocean.
The operations' disposal system has been categorically proven
that it poses no harm to the environment, and is permitted in the
U.S. and Canada, spokesman Edward Pressman told Dow Jones
Newswires.
Environmental groups in Indonesia have blamed the project as
polluting the sea by discharging "poisonous tailing" into the
sea.
The company, 45 percent-owned by U.S.-based Newmont Mining
Corp., Japan's Sumitomo Corp. holds 35 percent in the project,
while PT Pukuafu Indah holds the remaining 20 percent.
The company discharges 110,000 metric tons of ground rocks
each day, from which copper concentrates have been extracted into
the sea in the Indian ocean.
"The ground rocks are not poisonous or toxic," as accused,
Pressman said, adding the disposal area and method are carefully
chosen for the mining location, which is on the isolated Sumbawa
Island, 950 miles east of Jakarta.
According to Pressman, tailing is piped out one kilometer away
offshore, then disposed from the depth of 150 meters into an
undersea canyon which is 4,000 meters deep.
The area has no strong current, which helps prevent
distribution of tailing to other parts of the ocean, he added.
Computer modeling and other scientific tests have shown the
disposal method wouldn't harm the environment throughout the mine
life of 20 to 25 years, Pressman said.
The Batu Hijau project started in 1999.
The mine's proven reserves include 11.8 million ounces of gold
and 10.5 billion pounds of copper. Concentrates which contain
both copper and gold are shipped to refineries in Japan.
The company expects to produce 600 million pounds of copper
and 400,000 ounces of gold from the mine in 2001, Pressman said.
In 2000, the mine yielded 495 million pounds of copper and
280,000 ounces of gold.
Newmont's other Indonesian unit, PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, saw
a production of 364,300 ounces of gold in 2000, up from 344,000
ounces in 1999.
Total cash cost of production for gold also increased to $133
an ounce in 2000 from $103 in 1999, partly on currency
fluctuation, Pressman said.
The company supplies its gold production to PT Aneka Tambang.