NGOs are not enemy of mining firms: Newmont

NGOs are not enemy of mining firms: Newmont

Environmental activists have claimed that PT Newmont Minahasa
Raya, a subsidiary of U.S. mining giant Newmont Mining
Corporation, has contaminated Buyat bay, North Sulawesi, with its
tailings, causing the spread of a disease resembling the one that
affected the people of Minamata, Japan, several decades ago.
Newmont Pacific Nusantara president director Richard B. Ness and
the company's environmental advisor Ali Sahami spoke to The
Jakarta Post and Bisnis Indonesia on the issue:

Question: The government is setting up a team to see if the
environment on the mining site has been contaminated by Newmont.
What is your comment on that?
Answer (Richard B. Ness):We have been asked to join the team. We
welcome the government's effort in this regard.

We are confident of what the team's results will portray. For
example, we have taken 500 samples from Buyat bay. The mercury
content in Buyat bay is 120 times lower than the standard. The
same thing is true for the fish, which are about 2.6 times lower
than World Health Organization standards. The North Sulawesi
Environmental Supervisory Agency carried out independent tests on
mercury, which was 4.5 times lower. We are confident there is no
Minamata disease.

Question: What method do you employ to process tailings at the
North Sulawesi operation?
Answer (Ali Sahami): We use sub-sea tailings disposal (STD) in
the bay at about 80 meters depth. We have on-land and sub-sea
disposal (options) in our Amdal (environmental impact analysis).

Based on environmental impact assessment and economic,
environmental and social considerations, it was decided that sub-
sea tailings placement was the most advantageous.

We detoxify our tailings before depositing them anywhere in
the ocean or land, to prevent them from releasing cyanide or
heavy metals.
Question: How can you be sure detoxification is effective?
Answer (Sahami): First, tailings from the tanks go through a
detoxification circuit before going out through the pipe (into
the sea). We measure what comes out of the detoxification circuit
every two hours. We measure mercury, arsenic, cyanide and
register that. So we know very quickly if there is a problem and
shut it (the detoxification facility) down. We never release
contaminated (tailings) from our tanks.

We monitor tailings when they reach the sea floor frequently.
We take water samples right above the tailings. We measure the
sediment frequently and monitor fish in the bay. Once in a while,
we directly measure the sediment. Every quarter we give all the
data to the government.

Question: So what really happened at Buyat bay?
Answer(Sahami)" We don't know. Nothing has been shown to us that
is different to what we have been measuring ourselves.

We acknowledge the sediment from the tailings has a higher
concentration of arsenic and mercury than its surroundings. We
knew it before, and have carried out reactivity testing to show
that it is not releasing toxic substances. We have reported to
the government but there is nothing to show us that it is
contaminating Buyat bay. If we have missed something, please tell
us what it is. We would like to cooperate with a forum, to
include non-governmental organizations (NGOs), that has full
powers of investigation.

Question: With these environmental issues, do you see a
conspiracy against mining companies or is this just a classic
case of NGOs always being opposed to mining companies?

Answer (Ness): That is not true. NGOs are not the enemy of
mining companies. We are working with NGOs in all our areas of
operation. I think they are a crucial part of society, and not
only in Indonesia.