PNGBLOGS

AAP Climate change expert Ross Garnaut has defended the decision of mining companieswith which he has been involved to use a controversial method of releasing mining waste into rivers and the ocean in Papua New Guinea. Professor Garnaut, who conducted the Rudd government's 2008 climate-change review, was the chairman of Lihir Gold, a mining company taken over by Newcrest Gold last month. He is also a director of OK Tedi Mining Limited, another company that operates in PNG. Last week the ABC's 7.30 Report aired a report about Lihir and OK Tedi's practice of using deep sea tailings placement (DSTP) at two separate mines. The Lihir project, under Newcrest, is set to produce 1 million ounces of gold a year on Lihir Island, 900 kilometres north of Port Moresby. OK Tedi extracts copper, gold and silver from its remote Star Mountains operation in PNG's Western Province. According to the ABC report, OK Tedi discharges 56 million tonnes of metalliferous waste into local river sy

AAP Climate change expert Ross Garnaut has defended the decision of mining companieswith which he has been involved to use a controversial method of releasing mining waste into rivers and the ocean in Papua New Guinea. Professor Garnaut, who conducted the Rudd government's 2008 climate-change review, was the chairman of Lihir Gold, a mining company taken over by Newcrest Gold last month. He is also a director of OK Tedi Mining Limited, another company that operates in PNG. Last week the ABC's 7.30 Report aired a report about Lihir and OK Tedi's practice of using deep sea tailings placement (DSTP) at two separate mines. The Lihir project, under Newcrest, is set to produce 1 million ounces of gold a year on Lihir Island, 900 kilometres north of Port Moresby. OK Tedi extracts copper, gold and silver from its remote Star Mountains operation in PNG's Western Province. According to the ABC report, OK Tedi discharges 56 million tonnes of metalliferous waste into local river sy