Decision serves interest: Mori

ENVIRONMENT and Conservation Minister Wera Mori says a final decision on the Frieda River project will be done in the interest of all parties involved.
“This includes the landowners from the project area, people living around the surrounding communities and of course down the Sepik River system, both the East and West Sepik governments, the developers, investors and the state,” he said.
Mori said copper/gold project would not be easy to deal with in relation to what would be done with the mine waste as well as the tailings that would arise from it because of the large river catchment basins.
“We have a very pristine Sepik River basin and it is all our interest that we do not want to see the Sepik River getting polluted,” he said.
“In the case of the Frieda project, we have to be satisfied that the form of waste disposal must not impact the Sepik River.
“There are options to consider.
“One because we have the Ok Tedi mine, which lies opposite the Frieda River, there could be an option where we can mine the ore in Frieda, bring it down to Ok Tedi and use the same processing facilities at Ok Tedi and bring the concentrates out.
“They might put a pipe all the way like a submarine tailings placement along the coast of the East and West Sepik.
“It’s also a question of economics, what is the national appetite and how the East and West Sepik governments who have obligations to their people will make their position as to how they would want to see the mine developed and move forward.
“These are serious considerations that my department and the national government will take into consideration.
“It’s not an easy feat and we have a very difficult situation when it comes to the development of the project.”