The largest Chinese investment in South Pacific and Papua New Guinea, the Ramu Nickel and Cobalt Project’s Deep Sea Tailings Placement (DSTP) system in Madang Province doesn’t do any harm to the marine ecosystem and biodiversity of Madang Province since its operation.
The DSTP system is safe with zero harm to the natural ecosystem for years and this has proven that the project attaches great importance to monitoring and evaluating the natural ecosystem in and around its Basamuk Refinery at Rai Coast District in Madang Province.
The Ramu NiCo Project is the third in Papua New Guinea to discharge into depth of the sea including Lihir Mining in New Ireland Province and the Misima Mine on the East of Port Moresby.
PNG Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA) Principal Environment Scientific on Non-Renewable Resources-Mining Branch Officer Pitzz Murphy said Ramu NiCo Project has been maintaining the normal biodiversity and ecosystem consistency of the sea where it deposits its tailings since operation.
He said Ramu NiCo is the only mine in the country that has a clean record of maintaining its DSTP in Rai Coast District.
“Over the years, Ramu NiCo Management (MCC) Limited (RNML) has been meeting all regulations set by the PNG CEPA. Therefore, Ramu NiCo Project’s DSTP system is well monitored by the national government and the company,” Murphy said.
CEPA’s Environment Scientific Officer Non-Renewables Officer for Mining Branch James Pyanyo also said the national government has policies and protocols when giving permits to mining companies on how they discharge their waste, including penalties and guidelines based on environment monitoring and ecosystem.
He said if RNML is not following the regulations of PNG CPEA, the national government must have intervened a long time ago, but RNML has been obeying relevant regulations for years till now.
Ramu NiCo’s Environment Health & Safety Department’s Officer Steve Opur said the company is always concerned about its DSTP environment monitoring and testing for years since the mine operated and this is something the company always focuses on to protect ecosystem and biodiversity where the tailings are deposited. There are no harms or incidents till now.
He said RNML always carries out quarterly sampling and testing of the sea, fish and ROVO checking the outlets, and has proven DSTP has no harm to the ecosystem.
“Our samples are always sent to Labs in Australia and have been proven to have no harm to the ecosystem,” he said.
He said the department always do sampling inside Basamuk and out towards Karkar and Bagbag Island in Sumkar District, Long Island at Saidor District in Rai Coast, and has proven that the environment quality is still the same as that when the mine was still in its initial phase of construction.
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