Warnings over China's nickel mining project in PNG
Updated
China's hunger for resources has led it to Medang in PNG, where the state owned MCC company will mine for nickel. But the project has been plagued by controversy.
Presenter: Steve Marshall
Speakers: Wang Fution, MCC deputy director of operations; Johann Schmidt, Lutheran church; Benny Allan, PNG Environment Minister; Joe Koroma, landowner.
MARSHALL: A two-hour boat trip south of Medang and a new wharf is taking shape.
This is where boats will be loaded with nickel from the nearby Ramu Valley and shipped to China. Industry analysts and major mining companies say the Ramu Nickel project is uneconomical but that hasn't deterred the Chinese Government owned MCC.
Deputy director of operations, Wang Futian.
WANG: Because China is lacking in this kind of nickel reserve, we think it's profitable to develop this kind of nickel mine here in PNG here.
MARSHALL: But not everyone shares the same view. MCC is a steel and construction company and this is its first nickel mining project.
SCHMITT: They see it as a foothold in the country and if this one is not…
MARSHALL: Johan Schmitt is an agricultural engineer and a member of the Lutheran Church here.
When the church learned of MCC's plans to dump its mining waste into the ocean, it commissioned Australia's Mineral Policy Institute to investigate. MPI found the mine's proposed method of submarine tailings fell well short of industry standards and could impact marine life and coral reefs.
MARSHALL: Over 20 years, a refinery will pump more than 100 million tonnes of waste off the coast here. That's not on says MPI and Johan Schmitt.
SCHMITT: They should follow the example of New Caledonia, where they put all the solids into refills or into small tailing dams, and it's only the waste water which is disposed of into the Pacific Ocean.
MARSHALL: But a land based tailings dam is expensive and in this particular area unsafe according to PNG Environment Minister, Benny Allan.
ALLAN: It's vulnerable to earthquakes and volcano activities so dams cracking and spilling, overflowing, and all that would have adverse effect on the systems.
MARSHALL: The government is waiting on an independent environmental impact study, but for now it's willing to gamble on submarine tailings.
WANG: MCC says its waste will be non-toxic and pumped much deeper than any other mine in the region using the same process.
MARSHALL: Still the Chinese company faces a long road to win over critics. It's been accused of bringing in illegal workers, unsafe work practices, and ripping off land owners.
WANG: When I read these reports I feel astonished and very angry.
MARSHALL: And he's not the only one upset. Joe Coromer (phonetic) is one of many landowners who feel aggrieved by the deal done between the PNG and Chinese Governments.
COROMER: Many people say that the Prime Minister Somare has sold this land to the Chinese and the local people that are actually the land owners they were never part of it.
MARSHALL: A deal was signed with four landowner groups, however Joe Coromer says, his clan owns the land where the nickel deposit is but was never included in negotiations.
Mr Coromer took his argument to the Lands Titles Commission, that was 12 years ago and still no ruling from the government department.
According to lawyer, Tiffany Nonggorr, MCC is breaking the law by continuing its construction while the case is before the Lands Title Commission.
NONGGORR: The company could find itself in many different areas of latent trouble if it continues to commence its operations in breach of local laws.
MARSHALL: Yet construction continues, as does the criticism aimed at China's first nickel mining venture in Papua New Guinea.
