Rio Tinto?s Kelian braces for mine closure

Gold miner PT Kelian Equatorial Mining (KEM), a 90 percent subsidiary of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto is set to close its operation late 2004 due to resource depletion and is making necessary plan to prepare for the closure, according to the company?s executive.

?We are setting up so-called closure committee which comprised of officials from mining and forestry offices from central and regional governments, NGO?s, universities and other stakeholders. Hopefully we could draw up a comprehensive plan next year,? Charlie Lenegan, KEM?s president told reporters during a visit last week to the Kelian area of West Kutai regency, East Kalimantan.

?Our goal is to achieve responsible mine closure and sustainable benefit for the community and workers.?

?Internally we have taken necessary planning to prepare for mining closure such as trimming down workforce to just 79 in 2005 from our 1,000 currently, ? he said.

Lenegan said that one of the proposed land use for the mining site after the closure was turning the area into protected area.

?By turning the mine site into protected swampy land the stability of the waste dam could be maintained, he said.

Other alternatives were to turn the area into fishing ponds, productive forest or into recreational area, or into people?s mining area which will allow people to mine gold here,? he said.

Illegal alluvial miner has been operating at KEM?s contract of work area for sometimes.

However, Lenegan could not tell how much money would be spent on the closure program.

?Until the closure committee completes its recommendation, we could not say how much would PT KEM spend on the closure or how long we?ll be responsible for the mining after the closure,? he said.

KEM?s Kelian mining operation started production in 1992 and has ever since acted as the main development ?engine? in that remote area.

?We are starting community development programs such as agricultural and small business trainings that would enable the people to take care of themselves long after the mine is closed,? he said.

However, one of the things that worried Lenegan most is logging activities that had been rampant in the regency for the last few years after the authority to permit logging activities was handed from central government to Regency administration.

?We have been preserving the surrounding forests which fall into our working area. We even managed to rehabilitate some land as compensation to the area we use for mining.?

?What worries me, is who will take care of the forests after we?re gone,? he said. (alex)