JAKARTA, Indonesia — An Indonesian district court dismissed a civil lawsuit against a local unit of Newmont Mining Corp., the world’s second-largest gold-mining company, brought by a local environmental group over the alleged pollution of a bay.
The lawsuit against PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, filed by Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia, also known as Walhi, had asked for a 25-year recovery plan around the now- closed Mesel gold mine and a public apology from the mining company.
Walhi could not prove that Buyat Bay was polluted with tailings from the mine site, according to a decision from the panel of judges led by I Ketut Manika read at the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday. Walhi’s lawsuit was filed in March.
The finding follows a similar ruling in April from the district court in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province that acquitted Newmont Minahasa Raya of criminal charges of polluting the bay, near the Mesel mine, with mercury and arsenic.
“Hopefully, the residents of Buyat Bay are now able to continue with their lives working and fishing in the bay because Buyat Bay is not polluted,” Rubi Purnomo, a Newmont spokesman in Jakarta, said by phone.
Newmont Minahasa Raya, which closed the $135 million mine in August 2004 after reserves were depleted, has repeatedly said there is no evidence Buyat Bay was polluted. Denver-based Newmont’s main investment in Indonesia is the $4.7 billion Batu Hijau copper-gold mine in West Sumbawa province.
