Residents protest Meares Soputan Mining's planned tailings disposal

Residents of North Minahasa, North Sulawesi, are protesting a future gold mining operation in the regency because of a possible plan to dispose of tailings into the sea.

Chris Belung, the chairman of the People?s Environmental Awareness Movement in North Sulawesi, said that British gold mining PT Meares Soputan Mining (MSM) should update its environmental impact analysis (Amdal) because it was made seven years ago.

He said the company considered the tailings harmless and was planning to dump them at sea.

?In my opinion, the company should take one of the three options suggested by the national Amdal commission, which includes dumping the tailings on land, since it can be turned into products like building materials. Of course, in taking this option, the company will have to install machinery to recycle the tailings,? he told The Jakarta Post.

He said the company wanted to go ahead with disposing of the tailings into the sea because it would cost it less and the technology was less complicated.

The regency?s community leader, Nouke Paat, said the residents would continue to protest because the company was not transparent about its plan to dump its waste or how it would manage the waste.

Yopy Yorek, who chairs non-governmental organization the Minahasa Custom Land Guardian, has also opposed the mining operation.

He said the environmental group was not only against the plan to dump the tailings into the sea but also against the mining operation in general.

When previously contacted, the company?s manager, Peter Brown, promised to provide a written explanation but as of Wednesday, no response was available.

MSM is a subsidiary of London Stock Exchange-listed mining firm Archipelago Resources.(*)