Aurora Gold warns of Minamata disaster in North Sulawesi

A mining executive warned on Monday of an environmental disaster in North Sulawesi comparable to the tragedy in Minamata, Japan unless the government takes actions to stop illegal mining activities in the area.

Richard P. Lindsay, Australian firm Aurora Gold's resident manager in North Sulawesi, told Peteromindo.Com the mercury poisoning caused by illegal miners operating in the Dimembe district, which is part of the of Aurora's concession, had already caused a serious impact on the environment and the health of the local community.

The illegal miners concentrate in the Talawaan area, where Aurora's subsidiary PT Tambang Tondano Jaya has found a high-grade gold reserve.

Some of the local people have reportedly shown symptoms of the so-called Minamata disease, including weak muscles, Lindsay said.

And a woman from the nearby Tatelu village, who was involved in the illegal mining activities in the Talawaan area, recently gave birth to a badly deformed baby who died shortly after birth, Lindsay added.

Lindsay said scientific studies were needed to ascertain the cause of the death of the Tatelu baby but he said studies on the impacts of the mercury poisoning in Minamata revealed that population at greatest risk of methylmercury poisoning are pregnant women and the developing fetus. Women poisoned with methylmercury risk delivering badly deformed babies.

Methylmercury is the toxin produced by mercury through reactions with bacteria.

Minamata has been the most studied example of mercury poisoning.

Japanese chemical company Chisso Corporation dumped waste from its acetaldehyde plant into Minamata Bay from 1925 to 1960. An estimated 400 tons of mercury was released into Minamata Bay over 36 years, poisoning fishing community in the area.

The primary route of exposure for humans and wildlife to methylmercury is consumption of contaminated fish, Lindsay said, adding the main diet of the Minamata people is fish.

As of 1992, Lindsay said, the number of people officially diagnosed as having Minamata disease was 2,252 and 12,127 were suspected of having the disease. A total of 1,043 were dead from the disease.

Studies reveal symptoms of Minamata disease include tingling sensations, muscle weakness, unsteady gait, tunnel vision, slurred speech, hearing loss, and abnormal behavior, such as sudden fits of laughter, Lindsay said.

"It takes many years for the Minamata people to experience the impacts of the mercury waste, but in North Sulawesi, the impact of the mercury waste has already felt in one year," Lindsay said.

Illegal mining in Dimembe started last year and the number of illegal miners has considerably surged since January this year. An estimated 5,000 illegal miners are now present in the area, Lindsay said, adding 75 percent of the illegal miners come from outside Dimembe. .

Lindsay noted like Minamata, fish is the main staple in North Sulawesi and the mercury waste dumped by the illegal miners has contaminated the province's waters. The mercury waste produced by the illegal miners in Dimembe was drained into Manado Bay through the Talawaan River.

He said one study carried out by a local non-governmental organization Yayasan Cipta Bina Aquatik found that mercury levels in fish caught in two locations at the mouth of the Talawaan River reached above 0.35 parts per million (ppm), as against the safe level of 0.2 ppm.

Tests by Aurora revealed that mercury waste dumped by the illegal miners into the Talawaan River is 70 times the recommended international limit for safe drinking water.

"It's like a time bomb," Lindsay said.

He noted that the mercury waste would not only harm the health of the local people but would also deal a blow the province's tourism industry, which is one of the main foreign exchange earner in the province.

Manado Bay is a short distance from the famed tourist island of Bunaken and the bay is actually part of the diving area surrounding Bunaken sold to international tourists.

"Had tourists been aware of this situation, they would have not come, " Lindsay said.

Concerned with the threats posed by the illegal miners to the environment and the health of the local community as well as the company's inability to carry on its gold project in the province, Aurora has several times asked the local government to take actions to stop the illegal mining activities.

But, he said, thus far the local government has taken no action.

Noted NGOs like the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) and Mining Networks (Jatam), which have strongly criticized companies for environmental destruction, have also spoken no words of the alarming situation.

According to Lindsay, last year, the North Sulawesi provincial administration formed a coordinating team to solve the illegal mining problem and asked the company to help finance the team's action.

He said Aurora has provided a total fund of Rp 225 million (US$1=8,227) for the team from May to September last year, but no concrete action has been taken by the team to stop the illegal mining.

Lindsay said the local administration appeared reluctant to stop the illegal mining activities for several reasons, including the deep involvement of the government officials, police officers and military members in the business.

He said in a bid to raise the local authorities' concern with the situation and encourage them to solve the problem, Aurora's president director John Vernon once proposed to the provincial governor that the provincial administration buy some shares in the company's gold project in the province. But, thus far the governor has given no response.

President Abdurrahman Wahid issued a decree in early April this year ordering all the regional administrations to stop illegal mining, but the decree has thus far brought no effects in North Sulawesi.

Lindsay said a team of legislators visited Dimembe two weeks ago to take a closer look at the illegal mining activities. The visit was followed by another visit by a team of detectives and inspectors from the National Police Headquarters and the Ministry of Mines and Energy last Saturday.

The company has yet to see an action to follow up the visit, Lindsay said.

Aurora operates in North Sulawesi through two subsidiaries Meares Soputan Mining and Tambang Tondano Jaya in a partnership with local mining company PT Austindo Mining, which is controlled by the noted Tahija family.

Aside from the Talawaan reserve, both subsidiaries have found gold reserves in the Toka Tindung and Blambangan areas, but both reserves have lower gold grade of 3.4 grams per ton, compared to the gold grade of nine grams per ton in Talawaan.

Aurora found its North Sulawesi gold project was only economically feasible if the Talawaan reserve is included in the project, Lindsay said. (Alex Ginting and Hans Bodega)