The Ok Tedi Mine:

Copper and Gold Tailings

Papua New Guinea

Background

Papua New Guinea is located in the Southwest Pacific off of the northern coast of Australia. Originally it had been known as British New Guinea, but in 1906 it became Papua and was governed by Australia and was later granted self-government in 1973. Papua New Guinea is covered by almost three quarters tropical rainforest leaving the rest to mangrove swamps, grasslands and three main rivers which include the Fly River which runs 1200 km long.

Of the major resources Papua New Guinea utilizes, mining of gold and copper has provided 49% of foreign export earnings. The process used to extract these resources has left the environment in ruins. This pollution has been found to be the cause of a loss of fish, land and corals. The main pollution source is the tailings produced when chemicals and heavy metals are added to the crushed rock in order to extract the purified metal. "Studies have shown that copper-rich sediment is being transported into the flood plain areas and off-river water bodies" (Yaru, 2000). It is believed that steps need to be taken to help better then environmental status of Papua New Guinea.