BHP seeks Ok Tedi settlement
Date: March 8 2000
By Stewart Oldfield
BHP would seek to be absolved from the environmental liabilities of the Ok Tedi copper mine if it were to surrender control of the mine, the company's chairman, Mr Don Argus, said yesterday.
Mr Argus said BHP would gladly hand over its interest in the mine to the Papua New Guinea Government if the opportunity arose.
"That would probably be a pretty good outcome," he said on the sidelines of an environmental conference in Melbourne.
However, Mr Argus said the company would also seek to be freed from the risk of the "trailing liabilities" of the mine if it were to hand over control, effectively raising the complexity of current negotiations with BHP's partners in the mine, the PNG Government and Canadian miner Inmet.
PNG landowners, with the support of law firms such as Slater & Gordon, are likely to oppose any BHP attempt to absolve itself from the environmental clean-up costs of the copper mine.
The PNG Government is expected to rigorously oppose a BHP exit considering that the mine generates 10 per cent of the country's gross domestic product. Government sources have expressed satisfaction with BHP's operations of the mine and do not believe any other party would be able to handle the mine in a more environmentally sensitive manner.
The most advantageous outcome for BHP is likely to be premature closure of the mine ahead of its scheduled shutdown date in 2010.
On Tuesday, the Financial Review reported that the World Bank had told the PNG Government that from an environmental perspective the mine should be closed immediately.
This view is similar to that of BHP which has acknowledged that the best environmental outcome has the worst economic consequences while the best economic outcome that is, keeping the mine open has the worst environmental consequences.
Source: Australian Financial Review
By Stewart Oldfield
BHP would seek to be absolved from the environmental liabilities of the Ok Tedi copper mine if it were to surrender control of the mine, the company's chairman, Mr Don Argus, said yesterday.
Mr Argus said BHP would gladly hand over its interest in the mine to the Papua New Guinea Government if the opportunity arose.
"That would probably be a pretty good outcome," he said on the sidelines of an environmental conference in Melbourne.
However, Mr Argus said the company would also seek to be freed from the risk of the "trailing liabilities" of the mine if it were to hand over control, effectively raising the complexity of current negotiations with BHP's partners in the mine, the PNG Government and Canadian miner Inmet.
PNG landowners, with the support of law firms such as Slater & Gordon, are likely to oppose any BHP attempt to absolve itself from the environmental clean-up costs of the copper mine.
The PNG Government is expected to rigorously oppose a BHP exit considering that the mine generates 10 per cent of the country's gross domestic product. Government sources have expressed satisfaction with BHP's operations of the mine and do not believe any other party would be able to handle the mine in a more environmentally sensitive manner.
The most advantageous outcome for BHP is likely to be premature closure of the mine ahead of its scheduled shutdown date in 2010.
On Tuesday, the Financial Review reported that the World Bank had told the PNG Government that from an environmental perspective the mine should be closed immediately.
This view is similar to that of BHP which has acknowledged that the best environmental outcome has the worst economic consequences while the best economic outcome that is, keeping the mine open has the worst environmental consequences.
Source: Australian Financial Review
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