Its really a case of wait and see. MGO is looking at both...

Its really a case of wait and see. MGO is looking at both tailings and Deep Sea placement and the company says that any solution will have to meet worlds best practice with the technology having come a long way in recent years. Their initial plan was for Deep Sea placement as Ramu Nickel had already paved the way by obtaining approval.

Given the current court proceedings in PNG it will be interesting to see whether Ramu's Deep sea placement meets worlds best practice and is of minimal impact to the environment.

I don't think it would be a stretch to say that noone wants another Ok Tedi or Bougainville type scenario which is why Marengo is stepping up its community consultation. The Ok Tedi tragedy resulted in direct contamination of the River System rather than deep sea placement. The Debate about Deep Sea tailings disposal is different and is somewhat murkier as the environmental impact is meant to be mitigated by pumping treated inert tailings to great depth. The debate seems to be about possible long term impacts and whether some of the tailings might rise elsewhere in the bay. But that's a discussion for an environmental study.

If Marengo do things by the book and engage locals, church groups and the like then its not a lot different from a mining proposal in the Western World. There will be people for and against....