Landowners, stakeholders want mining lease delayed

LANDOWNERS and stakeholders in Morobe are calling on the Government to delay the granting of the special mining lease for the Wafi-Golpu gold project until an alternative disposal method is determined.
This followed a meeting in Lae last Friday to discuss the deep sea tailing placement method for the K17 billion gold project by developers Newcrest Mining and Harmony Gold.
Prime Minister James Marape had announced earlier this year that the licence was expected to be granted by September.
But provincial chairman of the environment and conservation committee Judas Nalau urged the Government not to rush it.
“Deep-sea mine tailings placement (DSTP) is banned in many countries around the world, including Australia,” Nalau said.
Another meeting has been planned to invite professionals in Morobe in mining, engineering and marine biology to design an alternative system to be given to the Government and developer.
“That’s our part to assist the government and the developer because we are not against the mining project,” he said.
Nalau said the provincial government was yet to action its stand against the proposed placement .
He said although a public stance was made by the provincial government, they were yet to see some action put in to corroborate their word. Jotham Keleino of Vitiaz Pilots Limited, a local marine piloting company, said there was still a lot of work to be done.
He said an independent review of the environmental impact study should be done first.