Authority approves by-pass road within mining area

A NEW by-pass road was approved by the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) recently for traffic use within the Kurumbukari special mining lease area in Usino-Bundi, Madang.
The road was constructed by the Ramu NiCo Management (MCC) Ltd, developer of the nickel/cobalt project.
According to a statement from MCC, a compliance inspection by MRA in 2018, the Kurumbukari (KBK) mine was required to adopt an engineering solution to solve the problem of non-mining vehicles crossing the mine site.
“The by-pass road is about 4.5km long and connects the entrance checkpoints at both ends of the KBK mine,” it stated.
“After the road is completed and put into use, villagers in the communities around the mine do not need to pass through the mine site to enter and exit the relocation village, which not only meets the travel needs of residents, but also effectively eliminates the safety hazards on mine site,.”
MCC said with the current Covid-19 pandemic rampant in PNG, the use of the KBK mine bypass road had eliminated the risks of villagers crossing the mine site and met the compliance requirements of mine safety production, reduced the chances of cross-infection between the mine and the surrounding communities, further strengthening the site epidemic prevention and ensuring the health and safety of the employees.
“The new road was planned in an area where the mountain is steep and trees are tall and dense that the global positioning system signal cannot be covered and the geotechnical surveyors cannot place the measurement lines. In order to ensure the safe and efficient completion of the construction of the road, the KBK mine arranged for highly skilled and proficient personnel, and deployed the best equipment to build this complex section of the road.”