Mining threatens the mighty Sepik River with utter ruin
06 July 2016
GLEN BARRY | EcoInternet
A PROPOSED large-scale copper and gold mine in Papua New Guinea will irreparably harm the relatively pristine Sepik and Frieda Rivers, and devastate the region’s primary rainforests and indigenous cultures.
The Sepik is one of the largest wild river systems left in the Asia Pacific. The Frieda River runs for 100 kilometres from the mine site in the steep, forested highlands before it joins the Sepik which flows another 600 kilometres through a wetland-dotted plain before reaching PNG’s northern coast.
Mammal faunas in that area are the richest in all of Australasia, with large tracts of contiguous primary rainforests, and the region is culturally rich as well.
PNG has a troubled history of extreme environmental and social damage from mining, with few economic benefits to locals who bear tremendous environmental and economic burdens thereafter.
Both the Bougainville and Ok Tedi mines tremendously damaged whole river systems, as did the Freeport mine in Irian Jaya. The Bougainville mine led to a civil war that killed tens of thousands, and the mine developers Rio Tinto have now abandoned the mine without any restitution for environmental and war crimes.
The Sepik region has been heavily logged for decades, with over one billion dollars in timber extracted, leaving local peoples in abject poverty no longer able to subsist.
Industrial mining and logging by foreigners have totally failed to provide local benefits, with proceeds flowing to the urban elite, leaving ravaged industrial wastelands where primary rainforests and indigenous forest gardens once stood.
The scope of the mine continues to expand, threatening to be one of the largest copper and gold mines in the world. There are expected to be several billions of tonnes of waste rock generated in a seismically-active region with very high rainfall.
Exposed mineral sulphides become unstable when exposed to air and water forming sulphuric acid, dissolving heavy metals which in high concentrations kill fish and devastate riparian and marine ecosystems.
China-owned PanAust has recently applied for a special mining lease for the large-scale, openpit mine. Frieda River Copper and Gold Project is controlled by an 80:20 joint venture between Chinese-owned company PanAust and Australian Stock Exchange-listed junior Highlands Pacific.
PanAust is in turn owned by the Chinese State through Guandong Rising Asset Management – just like MCC and its faltering Ramu nickel mine in Madang, which is leaking profusely.
The company claims the mine will be of “world standard” when they haven’t yet revealed how they will manage the toxic tailings and have not submitted any environmental plan. Once the mine is operating, 4,000 tonne barges will travel up the Sepik River daily.
Chinese development in PNG is continually sub-par and shoddy, virtually ensuring major toxic spills in an earthquake prone area containing large intact natural rainforests and a complex hydrology.
The proposed Frieda/Sepik rivers mine will leave the special Sepik ecosystem an industrial wasteland. The mine poised above the Sepik must be stopped and never be built.
Blame me! I discovered the Frieda copper and gold in 1963 when I was collecting shields for the Basel Museum.
Posted by: John Pasquarelli | 06 July 2016 at 10:08 AM
Sustainability and environmental concerns run high on the supposedly green agenda of nations compliant with UN driven Agenda 21 , Agenda 20 /30.
There are indicators that also point to a stringent regime of re-wilding rural areas returning them to "Pristine Originality."
Such moves point to population reduction in those areas.
Smart Grid and Smart Growth policies also tend to confine populus areas to strategic zones.
The consequences, intended or otherwise, are threatening toward PNG type habitation areas which depend heavily upon the ability to maintain village lifestyles in rural areas of provinces and districts.
As in other nations, these moves often start with denying industry in "Crown Lands," That has the desired effect of depopulating them which then opens the door for unopposed entry to "permitted" exploitation of resources without the need to accommodate or compensate indigenous inhabitants.
In many countries, now, Fracking has been seen to destroy water quality and habitability of rural zones seemingly without regard for lifestyle pursuits of residents.
In PNG's case, the moves toward partnering in the "Maritime Silk Road" initiative may see development that destroys without benefit as global giants contend for resources.
PNG is particularly vulnerable to exploitative intent by global players due to the parlous economic status currently prevailing.
I think PNGeans would do well to question the benefits, economic or otherwise, of future mining endeavors even if it counters the ambitions of the UN set.
Posted by: `Robin Lillicrapp | 06 July 2016 at 07:34 AM