Newmont denies mercury pollution at Buyat Bay

PT Newmont Minahasa Raya has denied a media report that the toxic pollution in the Buyat Bay in the Minahasa regency, North Sulawesi has resulted from the mercury coming from its dumping site at the bay, Republika daily reported on Monday.

Edward J. Pressman of the technical affairs department of the gold mine operator said on Saturday that the gold mine operator had nothing to do with the mercury pollution because the company had never used mercury in its processing activities.

But he acknowledged that although the company did not use mercury, it adopted a technology where the use of cyanide has become an integral part of the important chemical substances used in its gold processing activities.

Newmont Minahasa, one of the Indonesian units of the United States-based Newmont Corporation, dumps every day at least 2,000 tons of tailings, mineral waste, through a 1,020-kilometer pipeline from its mine site into the Buyat Bay.

The tailings were dumped at the depth of over 82 meters at the sea bottom to minimize the impact on the environment. The company also uses a modern technology to reduce the toxic substance from the tailings.

The company's marine dumping site has caused a wide spread controversy. Local people and environmental activists have demanded the company to close the dumping site. According to them, the dumping site had caused a heavy pollution and, it is feared, in long term it will not only destroy the marine species but also causes a health problem to the local people.

The company denied the charge and said that based on the previous study, the dumping is safe.

Newmont's subsidiary in West Nusatenggara (NTB) province is also under pressure from the local community and environmental activists. PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, which operates a massive gold mine in the province, also uses a marine dumping site for its mineral waste. (*)