Frieda eco plan pending

The National Business

By PETER ESILA
THE Environment Management Plan and the Environment Impact Statement (EIS) for the Frieda River copper-gold project is yet to be approved pending deliberation by the Environment Council, says an official.
Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (Cepa) acting managing director Jude Tukuliya said PanAust Limited general manager studies Phil McCormack had briefed them on this during a visit to the project site recently.
“During our visit to the project site in the Sepik plains region, we were briefed about the project and the developer’s environment management plan by Phil McCormack,” he said.
Tukuliya said McCormack had spent over a decade managing the project and was familiar with all its aspects.
He added that Cepa had concluded all activities in the EIS.
Frieda River project proposal is based on extraction of Hitek porphyry copper-gold deposit which contains an estimated 12 million tonnes of copper and 19 million ounces of gold.
The Hitek deposit represents one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper resources and is critical to meeting increased global demand fueled by the clean energy transition.
The Sepik Development Project consists of four interdependent projects:

  • Frieda River Copper-Gold Project (FRCGP);
  • Frieda River Hydroelectric Project (FRHEP);
  • Sepik Infrastructure Project (SIP); and,
  • Sepik Power Grid Project (SPGP).

The project is located in the northern foothills of the central range of West Sepik.
It lies in a remote area approximately 200-kilometres (km) from the northern coast and 50km from the Sepik River. The project area is characterised by steep terrain, very high rainfall, low population density and a near-absence of infrastructure such as roads, power and communication networks.
“Cepa must ensure that all the issues in relation to the Sepik River, the integrity of the integrated storage facility and of course all the unknowns identified during the review processes are assessed and screened properly before the environment council meets for the permitting process,” he said.
“Cepa has generally completed all the road shows and public consultations in the two project provinces (Sandaun and East Sepik),” he said.
“Consultations with the provincial governments have all been completed and we also have received comments and feedbacks from other interested individuals and groups as well.
“The last infrastructure consultations were conducted in July last year. “The independent peer review teams have in their reports, identified a number of important issues, particularly in terms of the dam’s integrity and stability. They have requested project proponent PanAust to test the core samples again.
“However, their main concern is in relation to the safety of the Sepik River and the possible collapse of the integrated storage facility.
“They recommended that the tailings be transported in a pipe-line to Sandaun to an identified bay and allow for DSTP (deep sea tailings placement).
“The current mine plan is not fully accepted,” he said.
Tukuliya said Cepa now needed to collate the reviews and comments from the IPR teams and the feedbacks and reports received during the consultation process before presentation to the environment council for the minister’s approval.