Newmont's executive may face three years in prison over pollution

Prosecutors asked on Friday for a three-year jail sentence for the president director of an Indonesian unit of U.S.-based Newmont Mining Corp., on trial over pollution charges in Buyat Bay, North Sulawesi, Agencies reported Saturday

Chief prosecutor Purwanta told the Manado district court that Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR) had polluted the environment and its president director, American Richard Ness, did nothing to stop it.

The prosecutor also demanded the company be fined 1 billion rupiah ($110,000 dollars) and Ness pay Rp 500 million or serve an additional six months in prison.

Ness told reporters after the hearing: "The recommendation is absolutely a complete mockery of your court system."

The maximum sentence for Ness allowed by law would be 10 years.

Newmont opened the North Sulawesi gold mine in 1996 and closed the site after the last ore was processed in August 2004.

The company also operates copper mine, Batu Hijau, on eastern Sumbawa island, which produced 315 million equity pounds of copper and sold 315,000 ounces of equity gold in 2005. (*)