Newmont asked to make new AMDAL before resuming operation

PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), an affiliate of American mining giant Newmont Corp, should propose a new AMDAL Environmental Impact Analysis) to be able to resume operation at its Batu Hijau mine on Sumbawa island, a senior government official has said.

Director General of Mineral, Coal and Geothermal at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Bambang Setiawan said in Jakarta on Monday that the new AMDAL was necessary because the company would have to widen the road at its mine following the rockslide at the west wall of its open-pit mine on the island recently.

?The expansion of the road should be based on new AMDAL. It take at least three months to process the new AMDAL,? he said, adding that the company would not be allowed to resume its operation until the new AMDAL is submitted to the government.

He noted however that the requirement imposed on the company to provide a new AMDAL would not stop the company from processing ores because the available stocks would be enough more than three months.

Meanwhile, the directorate general's secretary Witoro Soelarno said that the drop in the production due to the suspension of the mining operation would not exceed 10 percent.

This year, NNT expects to produce 500 million pounds of copper and 525 kilograms of gold.

There had been a ?geotechnical failure? on Sept. 18 and 19 in the west wall of the open-pit mine on Sumbawa island, which produces most of Newmont?s copper, along with a small amount of gold, the company said. The rockslide has forced the company to suspend its mine operation. (*)