Cyanide Crash:
Australian company spills cyanide and diesel in PNG, disposes of mine waste into river
 The Tolukuma mine. Click for a larger picture.
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The Australian-owned Tolukuma Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea,
responsible for a serious cyanide spill in March 2000, and a spill of 4,000 litres of diesel in september 2000, expects to obliterate fish populations and food resources in
the area as a result of its normal operations.
The Australian miners concede that up to 150 kilograms of sodium cyanide have found their way into Papua New Guinea waterways. The Sydney-based Dome Resources accidentally lost one thousand kilograms of the deadly chemical from a helicopter on its way to the Tolukuma mine.
A new report, Cyanide Crash: Report on the Tolukuma Gold Mine Cyanide Spill in Papua New Guinea, March 2000, shows the Tolukuma mine's day-to-day operations are expected to wipe out all fish life for 30 km of the Aroa river downstream from its discharge point. This is a direct consequence of the mine dumping its waste directly into the rivers.
The revelations follow the Hungarian Government's announcement that it is seeking $108m in damages from Esmerelda, the Australian miner responsible for the cyanide spill in Eastern Europe in February, highlighting the unacceptable practices of Australian mining companies overseas.
"The ongoing impacts of this operation in PNG would not be acceptable in Australia; how can the Australian government continue to ignore unacceptable mining practices by Australian companies operating offshore?" said Greenpeace toxics campaigner, Mark Oakwood.
"Dome Resources, the operators of the Tolukuma Gold Mine, knew before opening the mine that the operation would wipe out fish and food. Yet it continues to operate in an environmentally destructive manner without accountability. "
"The company is cynically exploiting a poor country and in the process destroying people's livelihood and the environment," said MPI's Director, Geoff Evans.
"It is well past time the Australian government stopped the overseas excesses of Australian mining companies."
The joint Mineral Policy Institute, Environmental Law Centre and Greenpeace report documents the damage from Dome Resource's own environmental information. The Environment Plan prepared for Dome and acquired by the Mineral Policy Institute and Greenpeace states that: "… high sediment deposition rates are expected to cause obliterative impacts on the fish habitats and food resources of these sediment-impacted reaches." Major impacts are also expected on food resources and frogs.
The Australian miners concede that up to 150 kilograms of sodium cyanide have found their way into Papua New Guinea waterways. The Sydney-based Dome Resources accidentally lost one thousand kilograms of the deadly chemical from a helicopter on its way to the Tolukuma mine.
A new report, Cyanide Crash: Report on the Tolukuma Gold Mine Cyanide Spill in Papua New Guinea, March 2000, shows the Tolukuma mine's day-to-day operations are expected to wipe out all fish life for 30 km of the Aroa river downstream from its discharge point. This is a direct consequence of the mine dumping its waste directly into the rivers.
The revelations follow the Hungarian Government's announcement that it is seeking $108m in damages from Esmerelda, the Australian miner responsible for the cyanide spill in Eastern Europe in February, highlighting the unacceptable practices of Australian mining companies overseas.
"The ongoing impacts of this operation in PNG would not be acceptable in Australia; how can the Australian government continue to ignore unacceptable mining practices by Australian companies operating offshore?" said Greenpeace toxics campaigner, Mark Oakwood.
"Dome Resources, the operators of the Tolukuma Gold Mine, knew before opening the mine that the operation would wipe out fish and food. Yet it continues to operate in an environmentally destructive manner without accountability. "
"The company is cynically exploiting a poor country and in the process destroying people's livelihood and the environment," said MPI's Director, Geoff Evans.
"It is well past time the Australian government stopped the overseas excesses of Australian mining companies."
The joint Mineral Policy Institute, Environmental Law Centre and Greenpeace report documents the damage from Dome Resource's own environmental information. The Environment Plan prepared for Dome and acquired by the Mineral Policy Institute and Greenpeace states that: "… high sediment deposition rates are expected to cause obliterative impacts on the fish habitats and food resources of these sediment-impacted reaches." Major impacts are also expected on food resources and frogs.
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