Well said FatManWalking. Thank you Ajdm123 and Deiadiva. Oscarone, the SAMS research released in 2010 has shed some light on the lack of detailed knowledge of metal leaching, dispersal of fine tailings and biological impacts in the marine environment.
Papertigger, quantified issues preclude the use of STD in Astrolabe Bay. Read the trial judges findings of fact as detailed by law firm Allens Arthur Robinson here: http://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2011/10/highlands-nickel-exec-wrong-on-ramu-court-case.html
Explorer, that is not the case at all. I know Ok Tedi well.
I repeat, the study, Tailings Dams Risk of Dangerous Occurrences, Lessons learnt from practical experiences, found the the key reason for tailings dam failure was due to management, not earthquakes, or rainfall.
SRK Consulting (engineers) audits of tailings facilities a year or so ago confirmed this. It found inappropriate design standards for tailings dams, such as upstream raise methodology in a seismic environment (ahem, that would be our BHP's Ok Tedi); incompatible plant and tailings water balances; and the improper use of equipment and technologies, such as warm-weather technology applied to waste management in cold regions, and vice versa. (I'm quoting.)
Ok Tedi is also a project in which the government owned 30% - which made it an extremely difficult decision to make when it realised it absolutely had to be shut down on social and environmental grounds. But given Bougainville was in civil war as a result of Rio Tinto's attitude to the people and environment, the government chose to keep it open for the money. Not that this money ever made it into infrastructure and services for the people of PNG...
It IS feasible to use on-land tailings dams in an environment of high rainfall and seismicity, as proved by the fact that some of the world's biggest wet laterite nickel mines (same as Ramu) in the same equatorial region are NOT using STD/DSTP (see my earlier post).
That it might cost more in terms of direct engineering, environmental, employee or community expenditure to do the right thing at the outset is often what puts companies off committing to a deeper, more genuine commitment to sustainability.
But cost more than what? The long-term damage caused in the Ok Tedi style of business modus operandi proved to be so costly to remediate that BHP walked away from it - the richest copper mine in the wold at the time. That’s hardly a sustainable business model. Shareholders took a bath.
No better examples exist of reputational risk than the histories of BHP and Rio Tinto in Papua New Guinea.
Marengo would do best by its shareholders to learn from the mistakes of BHP, Rio Tinto and now Ramu, rather than repeat them.
MGO Price at posting:
21.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
