The criticism of Newmont Mining Corp. in Indonesia comes amid a growing movement against the controversial practice of submarine tailings disposal, in which finely ground, processed ore is pumped to the seabed some distance from shore.
The process has been used in Canada and Europe but now is primarily practiced in Southeast Asia. It is not allowed in the United States and is no longer permitted in Canada. In both countries, companies may apply for an exemption, but the U.S. has never granted one, and Canada hasn’t for more than two decades.
Mining companies consider it the best option in regions where high rainfall and frequent earthquakes can disturb land-based disposal. In the last two decades, they say, advancements in science have made the systems predictable and environmentally sound. Under water, they note, the rocks don’t oxidize to create acid, a problem with land disposal.
But critics say dumping tailings at sea still poses unacceptable risks. Even the mining industry has expressed concerns about how mine waste may affect deep-sea environments.
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“Deep-sea disposal remains a controversial option … and there is little agreement on or evidence about its long-term effects,” a mining industry consortium including Newmont concluded in a report on sustainable development in 2002.
At least one company, Australia-based BHP Billiton, has declared that it won’t use the process on current mines and is unlikely to use it in the future.
Earlier this year, a panel commissioned by the World Bank recommended that the lending agency “not fund projects that would require submarine tailings disposal until balanced and unbiased research” demonstrates the technology’s safety.
Though the Overseas Private Investment Corp., the U.S. government’s political risk insurance agency, made such a move in 1997, the World Bank rejected the panel’s recommendation.
Now, the government of Indonesia, singed by criticism that it allowed Newmont to dump waste in Buyat Bay, plans to make it much more difficult for mining companies to use submarine tailings disposal.
Newmont environmental chief David Baker said submarine tailings disposal isn’t used in North America because there are few coastal mine sites in which it would be appropriate.
But there are other factors. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has considered submarine tailings systems just twice, and in each case the process was lengthy, costly and unsuccessful.
In 1990, the EPA rejected U.S. Borax Inc.’s application for a molybdenum mine in Alaska, sinking the company’s $20 million investment. Local residents had opposed dumping the tailings offshore.
Also in Alaska, Denver’s Echo Bay Mines, now part of AngloGold Ashanti, extensively studied submarine tailings for a mine near Juneau. But in 1997, after determining the mine wouldn’t make money, Echo Bay abandoned it.
The EPA investigated Echo Bay’s proposal for five years, but its findings were inconclusive. Bill Riley, who headed the effort for the agency, said a particular concern was that micro-organisms in sample tailings died after about six months.
“We couldn’t completely explain it,” Riley said. “That was certainly a hurdle that needed to be overcome.”
