What is the problem at Ok Tedi Mine?
Up to 30,000 people living to the south of the mining site along the Ok Tedi and Fly River systems have been adversely affected by the environmental impact of the mine. For example, locals have reported that they are no longer able to sell their fish and garden produce because of the polluting effects of the mine.
How is the waste from Ok Tedi removed?
Tailings Disposal After sulphide recovery from the tailings, the remaining barren sands are disposed of by pumping the material from the processing plant through a pipeline located within the Moscow Tunnel (about 1.5 km long) for discharge into tributaries of the Ok Tedi River and eventually into the Fly River.
What type of mining is Ok Tedi?
A 100% PNG owned company, Ok Tedi Mining Limited operates the longest running open-pit copper, gold and silver mine in Papua New Guinea.
Why did BHP leave Ok Tedi Mine in 2003?
BHP Billiton had sought a responsible withdrawal from the project after being unable to secure the agreement of other OTML shareholders for early closure of the mine’s operations.
What kind of issues problems did the Ok Tedi mine encounter during construction and operation?
Environmental Issues The Ok Tedi mine originally planned to construct both a tailings dam and a waste rock dump to retain much of the mine derived waste during its mine life. However, in 1984, during construction of the foundation for the tailings dam at Ok Ma, a landslide inundated the area.
Is Ok Tedi mine still operating?
Ok Tedi Mining has resumed mine operations at its namesake copper-gold-silver mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG) after a surge in the country’s COVID-19 cases prompted a two-week suspension on March 19.
Who owns Ok Tedi mine now?
Ownership. OTML is a 100 percent Papua New Guinea (PNG) owned entity with 67 percent direct shareholding by the Independent State of PNG and the people of Western Province holding a 33 percent interest. 100% of the benefits from its operations are distributed to the people of Western Province and the State.
What is mining waste?
(q)(1) “Mining waste” means all solid, semisolid, and liquid waste materials from the extraction, beneficiation, and processing of ores and minerals.
What are the harmful effects of mining on the environment?
Mining can pollute air and drinking water, harm wildlife and habitat, and permanently scar natural landscapes. Modern mines as well as abandoned mines are responsible for significant environmental damage throughout the West.
How does waste from mining affect the environment?
Mining adversely affects the environment by inducing loss of biodiversity, soil erosion, and contamination of surface water, groundwater, and soil. Mining can also trigger the formation of sinkholes.
What is mining pollution?
While mining practices have improved in recent years, mining activity can have a number of negative impacts on the environment, including: Contamination of ground and surface water supplies; Loss of biodiversity, and. Air pollution (release of microscopic dust particles that are harmful to human health).
What are environmental impacts of mining?
Mining: Environmental Impacts Mining can pollute air and drinking water, harm wildlife and habitat, and permanently scar natural landscapes. Modern mines as well as abandoned mines are responsible for significant environmental damage throughout the West.
How is mining affecting the environment?
The extraction of minerals from nature often creates imbalances, which adversely affect the environment. The key environmental impacts of mining are on wildlife and fishery habitats, the water balance, local climates & the pattern of rainfall,sedimentation, the depletion of forests and the disruption of the ecology.
What is the Ok Tedi Mine disaster?
Ok Tedi mine. The Ok Tedi environmental disaster caused severe harm to the environment along 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) of the Ok Tedi River and the Fly River in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea between about 1984 and 2013. The lives of 50,000 people have been disrupted.
What are the environmental impacts of the Ok Tedi River?
This has had adverse environmental impacts on the Ok Tedi and Fly River systems and associated eco-systems, which in turn has impacted the livelihood and cultural life of the communities who live along the river corridor.
How many people have died from Ok Tedi?
The lives of 50,000 people have been disrupted. One of the worst environmental disasters caused by humans, it is a consequence of the discharge of about two billion tons of untreated mining waste into the Ok Tedi from the Ok Tedi Mine, an open pit mine situated in the province.
What is the ethical problem with the Ok Tedi copper mine?
However, inhabitants are also dependent on the Ok Tedi copper mine’s development because many local people work there. That is why, the ethical problem is in the necessity to provide the morally appropriate solution to address the environmental and social issues and respond to the interests of employees, local inhabitants, and authorities.