Study on mine tailings begins

THE government last month deployed marine environmental monitoring equipm­ent off the coast of Basamuk Bay to study the possibility of ocean up­welling in relation to the operations of the Ramu mine, Madang.
Mining Minister John Pundari said the aim of this research was to make sufficient scientific measurements to ensure that the physical oceanography surrounding the tailings pipeline was fully understood.
“This will guarantee that the proposed deep sea tailings placement at Ramu is managed effectively,” he said.
Pundari said four moorings had been successfully deployed containing a number of instruments which would conti­nuously measure temperature, salinity and ocean currents.
These moorings will be recovered every three months over a period of 12 months.
The data obtained will be analysed by the Scottish Association for Marine Scienc­e (SAMS) in conjunction with meteorological and satellite data.
A final report will be made on the phy­sical ocean conditions operating from 2011 to 2012 at Basamuk.
The first scientific cruise to recover the moorings will be in October and will include the participation of officers from the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) and the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA).
The officers from the government will be trained by SAMS in the deployment, retrieval and operation of the monitoring instruments to be used.
Part of this training programme will include data analysis and interpretation for these officers at the Scottish Marine Institute in Scotland.
“I am pleased to announce on behalf of the government that, as part of this contract, all the state-of-the-art oceanographic monitoring equipment provided will now be owned and operated by PNG through the relevant agencies to monitor and regulate the mining industry,” Pundari said.