Firm forms panel to provide advice

 THE hidden Valley Joint Venture (HVJV) yesterday announced the creation of an external stakeholder advisory panel  to provide independent advice on environmental and related community impacts resulting from the operation of the Hidden Valley Mine (HVM).

It was a commitment by the HVJV last December to form an expert advisory panel to review sediment and related issues affecting the Watut River. 

Since then, HVJV had developed the terms of reference for the Esap and consulted with  industry and government stakeholders as to potential panel members with the right mix of technical skills, knowledge and experience.

The key objectives of the Esap included helping the HVJV to formulate and carry out appropriate environmental policies and strategies, recommend and review the results of relevant technical studies and investigations.

The panel complemented the HVJV’s existing regulatory processes by providing an independent and expert source of information and data relevant to the environmental and related social impacts of the HVM, thus maintaining HVJV’s existing community and stakeholder communication processes.