Newmont Nusa Tenggara applies for tailing permit extension

Copper and gold miner PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (PT NNT) said Tuesday it had submitted an application for extension of its Subsea Tailing Placement (STP) permit to the Minister of Environmental Affairs.

?The permit was issued on 13 May 2002 and is valid for three years. According to regulations, we are required to submit an application for permit extension no later than 2 months prior to expiry date,? PTNNT Senior Manager External Relations Malik Salim said in a statement.

The application letter is accompanied with supporting documents and data for further review. ?We also provide findings of monitoring on tailing physics and chemistry parameters as required in the permit,? Malik Salim added.

According to the statement, the monitoring result which is verified by the third independent parties, such as the Independent Team of NTB, Center for Oceanography Research of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (P2O LIPI) and the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation - CSIRO (Australia) indicate that the STP system is safe and meets the applicable regulations.

The statement added that the government of West Sumbawa had provided recommendation for the application of permit extension. (Robert)