An Indonesian court today acquitted a local unit of Newmont Mining Corp., the world’s second-largest gold miner, and a U.S. executive of charges they violated pollution laws in the Southeast Asian nation.
Richard Ness, 57, president of a now-closed gold mine, and PT Newmont Minahasa Raya were found not guilty of polluting a bay with mercury and arsenic, Presiding Judge Ridwan Damanik told the district court in Manado, North Sulawesi.
“We could not be more pleased that this case was decided on the facts and evidence presented in court,” Wayne Murdy, chairman and chief executive of Denver-based Newmont, said in a statement. “Anyone who followed the evidence presented in this case would have expected this result. It is the correct decision, and there is no factual or legal basis upon which to reasonably dispute this outcome.”
The decision may be a boost to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s drive to attract $22 billion in investment a year to a country rich in copper, nickel and tin. Murdy said before the verdict that the company would reconsider future investment in Indonesia if found guilty.
“If it was guilty, then it would send a negative message to all investors, not only foreign investors,” Arif Siregar, chairman of the Indonesian Mining Association, said in an interview. “We all know that Newmont had done nothing wrong.”
The prosecution, representing the environment ministry, had asked that the Newmont unit be fined $110,000 and Ness fined $55,000 and sentenced to three years in jail. It was the first time that a Newmont unit had faced criminal charges in any country.
“We are very relieved; it has been a long process,” Robert Gallagher, Newmont’s vice president of operations for the Asia-Pacific, said after the verdict.
The $135 million Mesel mine was closed in August 2004 after reserves were depleted. Charges were filed a year later after villagers complained that they fell sick from eating fish from nearby Buyat Bay.
Newmont’s main Indonesian investment is the $3.6 billion copper-gold mine in Batu Hijau, West Sumbawa province.
Much testimony centered on tests on water samples from the bay. A dozen labs, including one at the World Health Organization, tested samples. Only a test by local police supported the case against Newmont.
