PT Newmont operates Minahasa gold mine as usual
PT Newmont operates Minahasa gold mine as usual
JAKARTA (JP): Activity at PT Newmont Minahasa Raya's gold mine
in Minahasa, North Sulawesi, continued as usual on Monday as the
deadline set by the local court to close down the mine passed
without incident.
Company spokeswoman Yonaniko Salim said Newmont continued to
operate its mine because it had not received any new information
from the local court regarding the closure order
"As we received no directions from the Tondano court, we then
acted on the Supreme Court's order," Yonaniko said.
The Tondano District Court issued a provisional ruling on
April 8 ordering Newmont to close down its mine by last Sunday,
awaiting a final verdict on the company's tax dispute with the
local government.
But the Supreme Court intervened and asked the local court to
delay the closure of the Newmont gold mine.
Yonaniko said during the last court hearing on Saturday,
neither the district court or the regency mentioned the closure
order.
"The topic just never came up," she said.
She did say that the hearing on the tax dispute was nearing
its end, as the court requested Newmont and the regency to
prepare their final conclusions. She said the summations would be
presented at the next hearing on Saturday.
She said the court would issue its verdict after considering
these summations, adding that she could not say when the verdict
would be delivered.
The regency sued Newmont for a total of Rp 62 billion (US$8.2
million) in overdue taxes and compensation.
Under a 1998 local tax regulation, mining companies are
obliged to pay taxes on gravel, sand and stone extracted for
commercial use.
The regency believes Newmont used its extracted overburden for
commercial purposes, and thus owned taxes on the overburden.
Newmont refused to pay, saying the taxes were not included in
its contract of work it signed with the government in 1986.
The district court's closure order was issued after a joint
verification team, comprising officials from the local
administration, the Ministry of Mines and Energy and Newmont
representatives, failed to reach an out-of-court settlement.
According to media reports, the regency is also preparing to
charge Newmont with causing environmental destruction.
Several non-governmental organizations have accused Newmont of
burying environmental audit results which show that the company's
operations have harmed the environment.
Chalid Muhammad, coordinator for the Mining Advocacy Network
(JATAM) said that a joint team formed by the local administration
conducted an environmental audit on Newmont last year.
The audit, he said, revealed that Newmont's tailing disposal
system had caused toxic elements to reach an intolerable level at
the disposal site in Buyat Bay.
The director general for general mining, Surna Tjahja
Djajadiningrat, however said the first audit results found no
toxic elements in Newmont's operation.
"Newmont doesn't even use mercury in its operation, only old
mining companies still use that," Surna said.
However, he admitted that the company had some technical
problems with its tailing system, which caused muddiness in the
surrounding water of Buyat Bay.
Surna said he had asked Newmont to fix the problem. (bkm)