Newmont Mining Corp. chief executive Wayne W. Murdy has arrived in Indonesia to discuss a plan by the government to sue the Denver-based company, the world’s biggest gold miner, for alleged pollution.
Murdy was to meet Mines and Energy Resources Minister Yusgiantoro Purnomo today, said Ong Hock Chuan, a spokesman with public relations company PT Maverick Solusi Komunikasi, which represents Newmont in Indonesia. Murdy was not available for comment, Ong said.
Rachmat Witoelar, Indonesia’s environment minister, said on Nov. 25 that the government would sue Newmont based on a report that said dumping of mine waste by the company on the seabed off Sulawesi caused arsenic levels to rise to 10 times the levels allowed in the U.S. Newmont denies the allegation.
“I would like to think there’s still an opportunity to sort this out,” said Dave Baker, vice president for environmental affairs and sustainable development who is also in Jakarta this week. “Our studies show that there was no viable pathway for arsenic to get into the food chain.”
Villagers living near the company’s Minahasa mine in Sulawesi complained to the police about five months ago that they suffered health problems after eating fish from nearby Buyat Bay, where Newmont dumped waste.
Newmont, which invested about $20 million on exploration last year in Indonesia, has said its disposal processes are in line with legal limits. Police earlier detained and released five Newmont executives over the case before formal charges were filed.
