North Sulawesi opposes Meares Soputan?s gold mine operation

The North Sulawesi provincial administration has opposed the operation of PT Meares Soputan Mining (MSM)'s Toka Tindung gold mine in the province's Minahasa regency on fears that the company's mining activities would damage the environment, Kompas reported on Tuesday.

Speaking during a hearing with the House of Representative (DPR) last weeek, North Sulawesi Governor Sinyo Harry Sarundajang said that his office had formally sent a letter to the State Minister of Environment to convey the local government's decision to reject the environmental impact analysts (AMDAL).

Sarundajang said that the AMDAL documents which had won approval from the Jakarta environmental authority were not significant enough to protect the environment around the company's mining site which is located near the Likupang marine conservation area and the protected Tangkoko forest area.

With the rejection of the AMDAL documents, the company would not be able to continue its operation.

"We are not against foreign investors but the people needs environmentally friendly investment," he told the hearing. He said that based on the local government's study, the company's mining waste disposable system had the potency to destroy the important species in the marine and forest conservation areas.

MSM is a subsidiary of London Stock Exchange-listed mining firm Archipelago Resources. It invested a total of US$ 80 million until 2006 to develop The Toka Tindung gold project. For the year 2007, the company plans to spend $60 million. The company has so far employed about 500 local workers.

The Toka Tindung gold project has a resource of 1.75 million ounces (ozs) of gold equivalent, of which at least 900,000 ozs will initially be mineable by open pit. The project is targeted to produce 160,000 ozs per annum for an initial 6 year mine life commencing in mid 2006 (*)