Information Copper Indonesia

Production Data NA according to last three Business Reports

Down to Earth - The International Campaign for Ecological Justice in Indonesia,

Down to Earth works with Indonesian NGOs and community groups striving for a socially just and environmentally sound future by increasing international awareness of their struggles. We speak and read English and Bahasa Indonesia. Down to Earth produces a quarterly newsletter in English and updates on International Financial Institutions. For subscription rates, please contact DtE's Main Office. An rtf version (in English) and translations of selected articles (dlm BI) are available by email. DtE is a project of APPEN. 

Some recent news items about Newmont's Batu Hijau mine are attached below. You will find some articles in English about this operation in the Down to Earth newsletter (see website adress below - it has a 'search' facility). You can probably get more from the Indonesian mining network JATAM - contact tracy@jatam.org. Also look at JATAM's website (Http://www.jatam.org) for some of the papers and the outcomes of the April 2001 conference on STD. And see Roger Moody's book 'Into the Unknown' (available from partizans@gn.apc.org) if you have not already done so. 

Seabed Tailings Disposal

• the sea bed is not stable as Indonesia lies on the edge of 2-3 tectonic plates and there is frequent volcanic activity
• the thermocline (zone between warmer upper layers of water and cold dense water below) is not stable as tropical storms and ocean currents cause mixing of warm and cold water
• there are strong ocean currents between most Indoensian islands.

In addition to the pollution issue, (which the local fisherfolk are very concerned about, saying that local fish catches have already fallen dramatically), Newmont's Batu Hijau operation involves issues of land rights and disruption of the social structure/local culture.The local community is relatively small, very poor, scattered in a number of villages far from the provincial capital. People there are not well-educated, do not have access to phone/email and have little ongoing support from local NGOs. So bear this in mind if the company says 'there are no complaints'! I have translated (first item below) the statement of a local man who bravely made a statement at last year's Indonesian STD conference expressing his community's concerns. 

Statements from Local Communities - Press Review

THE PEOPLE OF TONGO SEJORONG

Petromindo, Saturday, May 05, 2001 

Lombok fishermen charge Newmont of harassment

Petromindo, Thursday, July 12, 2001 

Newmont sued by resident over land dispute

Petromindo, July 20, 2001

Newmont expects strong Q2 results for Batu Hijau mine

Received from Joyo Indonesian News 

The Jakarta Post Wednesday, December 19, 2001 

Newmont denies role in toxic waste trade

West Nusa Tenggara-based copper mining firm PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara has denied allegations that it is involved in illegally trading toxic waste, particularly used oil. Anton Susanto, an executive of the company, said that his company had never been involved in any such illegal activity. "Our company always manages used oil and other toxic waste from mining activities according to the regulations. We always follow the procedures stipulated in regulations regarding the storage and collection of toxic waste," he said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post recently. Anton was responding to allegations made by an executive of the West Nusa Tenggara chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI-NTB) last month. Bambang F. Mei, Walhi-NTB regional executive, said that based on investigations, reports from informed sources and scientific analyses, the company had engaged in the illegal trade of toxic wastes, such as used oil and diesel fuel. "We have received reports about irregularities in toxic waste handling procedures, including allegations of (involvement in) the toxic waste trade," Bambang told reporters in the provincial capital Mataram last week as quoted by Antara. According to Bambang, Newmont sold used oil to a toxic waste collection company, UD Sumber Anyar, for Rp 200 to Rp 500 per liter. Each month, Bambang said, Newmont produced 100 to 150 tons of used oil. Newmont contracted UD Sumber to transport its used oil and toxic waste to its treatment facilities from October 1999 to September 2000. Bambang said that what Newmont had done was in violation of the 1997 Environmental Management Law No. 23, which stipulates that toxic waste must not be traded. Anton confirmed that Newmont had engaged UD Sumber Anyar to transport used oil to treatment facilities. But while UD Sumber Anyar had paid for some of the oil received, the amount was far less than the cost to Newmont of transporting the used oil from the mine site, Anton said. Walhi-NTB also alleged that Newmont had hired a new contractor without a proper permit to transport its toxic waste after the contract with UD Sumber Anyar expired. Bambang said that, after its contract with UD Sumber Anyar had ceased, Newmont hired PT Caltex Oil Indonesia to transport its toxic waste. PT Caltex, according to him, did not have the relevant permit from the central board of the Environmental Impact Control Agency (Bapedal), the local Bapedal office or the directorate general of petroleum and gas. Later, and still without the permit, PT Caltex cooperated with a shipping company, PT Meratus, in Surabaya, East Java to sell toxic waste, he said, adding that PT Meratus did not have a license to transport and distribute toxic waste. "There is a mutually beneficial collaboration between the three companies. Newmont in a legal and ethical sense is considered accountable for violating toxic waste treatment procedures," Bambang said. Anton said that Newmont had always hired authorized contractors to transport its used petroleum products to a licensed used oil recycling facility in Surabaya or to a permitted waste treatment facility in Bogor, West Java. "The transport of used oil from the mine site to the facilities is conducted under the authority of Bapedal and the directorate general of sea transportation," he said. Anton also said the choice of PT Meratus to transport used products was a business decision and had been conducted in accordance with the laws and regulations. 

Indonesia Receives US$3.9 MLN in Royalties From US Mining Firm

The Indonesian goverment has received US$3.9 million in royalties from PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (PT NNT), the US mining company said. NNT said in a press release Thursday that US$3.57 million of the payment was royalties for copper concentrate and the rest for gold and silver. It said with the payment on Jan. 31, the company, which operates under a working contract in West Nusatenggara, it has paid a total of US$31.39 million in royalties to the government since 1999. 

End "Down to Earth" 

THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF INDONESIA ó1999

U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MINERALS YEARBOOK ó1999

Freeport (Grasberg)

Newmont Hijau

Production Indonesia, t Cu (Mining figures represent only Freeport, since Newport started in 1999) 

End USGS 

amnesty international

verurteilt den Mord an Theys H. Eluay

12. November 2001 ai-index ASA 21/052/2001 12/11/2001
Public Statement 

12 November 2001
AI Index ASA 21/052/2001 - News Service Nr. 199 

Indonesia: Amnesty International condemns the killing of Papuan independence leader

For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in 

London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 

Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW web : 

http://www.amnesty.org

End AI 

Kritische Aktionäre - Critical Shareholders

Mineral Policy Institute

JATAM (Jaringan Advokasi Tambang) - Mining Advocacy Network

Newmont Nusa Tenggara

Batu Hijau, Sumbawa

The NNT site, also known as Newmont Batu Hijau, is an open-pit mine and the mining operation covers 116,900 hectares. The mine is expected to last for approximately 20 years. American, Japanese, and German finance institutions among others have provided billion dollar financing for NNT. 

NNT operates two open pit mines, Air Merah and Tongoloka. The Tongoloka open pit mine already has reached a depth of 3000 meters. To lessen operational and production costs, NNT announced it will increase its production of gold by 40% and copper by 20% in April 2001. In 2000, NNT produced approximately 280,000 ounces of gold and 495 million pounds of copper. In 2001, according to NNT president Tom Enos, "production levels will reach 400,000 ounces of gold and 600 million pounds of copper. " The NNT site contains reserves of approximately 10 billion pounds of copper and 11 million ounces of gold (6 April 2001 PT NNT Akan Tingkatkan Produksi Emas 40 Persen MinergyNews.Com, Mataram). Submarine Tailings Disposal 

Large quantities of rock must be mined to obtain the small amounts of copper, gold and silver that are inside the rock. At NNT, only one truckload of minerals is sold for every 3 truckloads of rock processed. The other two truckloads are waste rock. For every ton of rock processed, NNT is able to obtain 5.25 kilograms of copper, 0.37 grams of gold and lesser amounts silver (NNT documents, 2001). After the copper, gold and silver are mined from the Batu Hijau mine, the metals are then separated from the rock at the concentrator. At the concentrator, the ore is mixed with seawater and put into a large grinder called a SAG mill. It grinds the rock into small stones. The small stones then flow to another grinder called the Ball Mill. It grinds the stones into fine sand particles. This water and sand mixture is called slurry. The slurry is then pumped into tanks where reagents are added. While Newmont's other Indonesian mine, Newmont Minahasa Raya uses cyanide in its processing of ore, NNT uses a series of reagents. The reagents allow the slurry to foam and bubble when air is pumped into the tanks (NNT documents, 2001). This allows the finely ground metals in the slurry to attach to the bubbles and float to the top while the waste rock sinks to the bottom of the tanks. NNT claims that the tailings are not dangerous because cyanide is not used in the processing of ore. Waste rock or tailings on the bottom of the tanks are transported by a pipe 3.2 kilometers from shore into Senunu Bay near Sejorong, at more than 100 meters below sea level into a deep ocean trench over 3000 meters deep. NNT has been dumping as much as 120,000 tons of wastes each day into Senunu Bay since December 1999. This amounts to 43.8 million tons per year. 

In May 2001, NNT held a seminar on "Submarine Tailing Placement (STP)" in Mataram, Lombok. NNT sent in so-called STD experts and consultants from Indonesia and Canada who have a long history of endorsing STD, to promote the use of this waste disposal method in Sumbawa.

Impacts 

Walhi NTB (West Nusa Tenggara Forum for the Environment) has said these tailings are polluting the environment. The waste contains heavy metals and chemical elements, such as arsenic (As), barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), selenium (Se), and silver (Ag). The 120,000 tons of tailings produced everyday means that a total of 1.045 billion tons will have been deposited by the time the operation is over. This will disturb the local marine ecosystem, killing fish, and reducing biodiversity as the bay becomes more and more shallow. 

Furthermore, local people were not properly involved in the Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA) that was carried out. The people are concerned that they will be poisoned, developed cancer or mental illness as a result of contamination from the heavy metals and chemical elements in the waste. Walhi NTB has demanded that the government carry out an environmental audit on NNT mine, meaning that the government should check the results of NNT's own EIA. "It is clear that this system is destroying the environment," said Yulianto, Walhi NTB Advocacy and Development Coordinator (Dari Tongo ke Kruwak: Melihat dampak Pertambangan Newmont Nusa Tenggara, JATAM, 2001). Before NNT came to Sumbawa, catching fish was easy and villagers caught more fish than needed. They sold their surplus in the local markets but since NNT began pumping tailings into the bay, the fish population has declined drastically and is insufficient for local need. Also Senunu Bay was a healthy green turtle spawning area but no longer as the community has a very difficult time to find any turtle eggs around Rantung coast. Some fish species have also disappeared. Also the site of waste disposal to the south is known for strong currents and the ocean floor has experienced seismic activity in the past. Thus increasing the danger that wastes are being dispersed at further distances. 

NNT also has polluted the ocean that is culturally significant for the community. The ocean is the place of indigenous celebration and a place of gathering to share and pray that the ocean will continue to share its benefits with the community (Jabir HMS. Tongo Sejorong Community. Presented at International Submarine Tailings Conference, April 2001). In May 2000, a local NGO reported the collapse of a dam containing waste mud from NNT's drilling operations. As a result, a wave of mud flowed downriver and covered the surrounding farmland. Meanwhile, the tailings pipes have ruptured several times from October 2000 to January 2001. The ruptures have occurred on land, killing the grass around the vicinity of the spill and changing the colors of the land and grass to brown and a creamy color. On January 25, 2001, the tailing pipe broke but the company has so far not recognized this and in February 2001, as much as 21 barrels or 4.684 liters of diesel oil spilled and polluted the ecosystem of the Benete Bay, the fishermen have since been unable to catch any fish. 

Walhi NTB has been given information from some diving guides that some diving locations in Lombok and Bali seas have been polluted with NNT tailings. Coastal corals, especially blue corals have been destroyed or have changed color from blue to brown. This has been evident in some highly frequented tourist areas namely the Gili Islands and some regions of Bali (28 Mei 2001. Laut Lombok & Bali Diduga Telah Dicemari Tailing Newmont Nusa Tenggara. MinergyNews.Com, Mataram). 

Indonesian Minister of Environment Sonny Keraf declared on May 22, 2001 in a Government House of Representative meeting in Jakarta, that his ministry has yet to issue a permit for tailing disposal at Newmont Minahasa Raya and PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara Batu Hijau. "There is no permit for them as of today," the Minister declared. The Minister told the House Representatives that his ministry was still examining the data and information. The local communities in both regions have been protesting the practice of submarine tailings disposal. This method of disposal has had deleterious effects on many marine creatures, including certain species of fish and coral reefs. The Environment Minister, who is also the chairman of Environmental Impact Controlling Body has also ordered NMR to make an Ecological Risk Assessment of the STD site before he will make a decision to issue a permit for STD for NMR. In NNT, the Environment Minister has said that his ministry was still examining the detoxification process used by NNT. With the recent decentralization of Indonesian government and the regional autonomy, the Minister recognized that regional governments may try to exploit the natural resources in their area to boost their economies, but he also pointed out that uncontrolled exploitation could lead to serious problems for the whole country (Minister does not issue permit yet for tailing disposal. Indonesian Observer, May 23, 2001).

Community Concerns & Actions 

The community rejected the acquisition of their land for NNT's mine, port, processing plant, satellite, township, roads and tourism project. Fertile farmland was confiscated without landowner's permission or at inadequate compensation rates. 

Thirty farmers' lands were taken over by NNT for the STD pipeline alone. Just the opening of the green lush forest destroyed over a thousand hectares of protected forests, the habitat of wild animals as well as many plants with medicinal properties. The project area was the former habitat for as much as 8 protected tree species, 87 species of wild animals, 39 species of birds, 2 reptilian species including a turtle species. All these species mentioned are protected species under Indonesian government guidelines. 

The Tongo-Serjorong River has also became muddy and polluted. NNT's heavy water use has caused springs and wells to dry up thus leaving communities without an adequate drinking water supply. The irrigation system at Buin Batu Sekongkang is no longer efficient for community farming. 

Before NNT, the community depended on farming and fishing as a source of their livelihood. The communities have suffered a drastic loss of livelihood because NNT has destroyed all their natural resources they have depended upon for generations. For example, before NNT, the Tongo community made a living on palm sugar. The minimal income from palm sugar was Rp. 30.000/day. Tongo became Sumbawa's center for palm sugar . The palm tree forests have been accessed by the community for generations. Families owned up to a hundred palm trees. They processed palm sugar on these lands as well. Unfortunately, the community did not own certificates for the palm tree lands, they only have palm tree production certificates from the local government industrial department. Since NNT entered the community they can no longer gain access to their palm trees. NNT and the government have declared this area a "national protected forest." NNT has provided inadequate land compensation for these lands. For more than 200 productive palm trees, the people were only compensated with money ranging from as little as Rp. 300,000 to Rp.1 million. Besides losing access to palm trees, the community has lost access to rattan, honey, bamboo and other resources that they made a sustenance living from. NNT security workers wearing "911" badges on their shirts ensure the community does not access the land. The company guards prohibit the community from entering the forests (Dari Tongo ke Kruwak: Melihat dampak Pertambangan Newmont Nusa Tenggara, JATAM, 2001). 

Benete Bay is the NNT's port site and where NNT's mineral concentrate is shipped outside. The heavy sea transportation here has also had an impact on the marine organisms and caused fish to migrate from here and made it extremely difficult for fishermen to land their boats and in some cases fishermen's boats have flipped over due to the propeller-powered boats of NNT (Dampak Tailing terhadap Ekosistem Pesisir dan Kelautan, Yani Sagaroa, LOH). 

The women of the community have been severely impacted. Their spouse's loss of income has put additional pressures on the women to work harder and supplement for their spouse's lost income contribution to the family. Also on the Rantung coast along Senunu Bay, young milkfish and other fish have disappeared that used to be the women's main source of livelihood. Now they are left with nowhere to turn for supplement income since Newmont does not hire women at their mine. This has forced some women into marriage or if their husbands do not pass the medical tests to work at the Newmont mine, they have been forced to marry again. 

NNT has changed the cultural landscape as well. The town of Maluk has been filled with shops, salons and bars. It is here that many NNT workers reside. Prostitution, alcoholism, gambling and higher incidences of crime have rocked this area as a result of the development of NNT. The contract wife has also arisen as common in most large-scale mining operations. These marriages between local community women and foreign workers last for as long as the work contract lasts, posing several future problems. 

NNT has also practiced discriminatory hiring practices and has paid discriminatory wages. NNT has broken their promise of giving 60% of its employment opportunities to the local community. 13,000 local residents applied for these jobs but NNT only hired 600 of them and then did not contact them. The residents protested and blockaded a road for 3 days until NNT promised to start training these workers. Yet again, NNT failed to keep its promise. Foreign NNT employees are able to pay higher prices for goods and sellers have been refusing to sell their goods to local residents, waiting for a higher bidder. 

On October 10, 1999, the Sumbawa community met with Newmont officials to table their concerns. The community was dissatisfied with the company's lack of responsiveness and then staged a demonstration three days later. The community demanded that NNT improve water supply, monitor its waste and disclose information on mining impacts to the people. Military and police thugs acting on behalf of the company's elite security force brutally wounded the protestors. Twelve protestors were wounded, five by gunfire. The security is meant to intimidate the residents into relinquishing their lands and to frighten residents from protesting against environmental degradation, economic destabilization and many broken promises. 

The Kruwak Community Alliance(AMAK) is an alliance of 6 coastal communities, Tanjung Luar, Batu Nampar, Teruwak, Sukaraja, Pijot and Pemangkongm, who have felt the impacts of NNT's mining. The communities are united in their position that NNT has seriously disturbed their fishing grounds. Thus having devastating effects on their livelihood. According to AMAK, NNT has been spreading false information that "Tailings are Safe Wastes" and have been socializing in 21 fisher communities along East and West Lombok, the center of fisheries in West Nusa Tenggara (Dampak Tailing terhadap Ekosistem Pesisir dan Kelautan, Yani Sagaroa, LOH). 

The communities have staged numerous demonstrations. On March 14th and 21st, the community staged demonstrations in Sumbawa rejecting NNT. On April 4, 2001, the people demonstrated at NNT's seminar in Lombok. The relationship is not harmonious between NNT and the community as illustrated by the NNT mining area being bombed several times. On June 28, 2001, a landowner Jhoni Hartono filed a civil lawsuit against NNT for illegally taking over land that he had recently purchased from a local community member. He had bought 5,780 square meters in August of 1996 but to his dismay Newmont confiscated 1275 square meters of that total in 1997. The first trial was set to take place on July 9, 2001 (Gusur Tanah Orang Lain, PT NNT Kembali Digugat, LOH, 10 Juli 2001 and 12 Juli 2001 Serobot Tanah Warga, PT NNT Diperkarakan ke PN Sumbawa Besar. MinergyNews.Com, Lombok).

From Kompas, 1 December 2001 

PT NTT Charged with Trading B3 Wastes Mataram, Kompas 

PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), a gold and copper exploration company based at Batu Hijau, Sumbawa District, Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, has been charged in violation of their dangerous and toxic (B3) waste management procedures, including used oil. These were traded, although the company has duty free facilities. "According to the regulations, oil, diesel, and car batteries are used for significant activties and those categorized as waste cannot be used for economic benefit again. Because of this, those materials are duty-free. But what has been going on is opposite to the regulations, and therefore is a violation," stated Bambang Mei from Walhi NTB, Wednesday (26/11) in Mataram. 

PT NNT was contacted via their Superintendant of Media Relations, Iradati Fuad last Wednesday and has so far failed to respond because he must asked for information from the company's authorities. Iradati promised to give a written response on Thursday, however this is not for certain. 

"I think a response can be given tomorrow morning (this Saturday), " stated Iradati when he was contacted again, last Friday, concerning the issue of a response from PT NTT. 

The Chief of the Local Environmental Impact Control Agency (BAPEDALDA) NTB Drs HA Wahab Yasin stated, there is yet to be concrete data if this oil has been sold or not. However, he agreed that these materials are classified as B3 Wastes and are prohibited from being traded. According to Wahab, used oil owned by PT NNT was brought to PT Agip Oil Lumbrido in Pasurunan, East Java. Those materials were then processed again as raw material for oil. Actually, UD Sumber Anyar Mataram and PT Sidomulyo Patuk Pulo, Sidoarjo, recieved recommendation from BAPEDALDA NTB for the last two years as storage and collector. "However, since last May, BAPEDALDA NTB has yet to recieve an activity report from UD Sumber Anyar, " stated Wahab. 

It was then disclosed that PT NTT broke their contract with UD Sumber Anyar in September 2000 and they stated they had contracted a new company. But, BAPEDALDA NTB up to late November 2001, had yet to recieve an official response as to the name of this company that has replaced the former company. "Our monitoring in the area is to prevent used oils coming from PT NTT from being misused, because this disadvantages the consumer," stated Wahab. (rul) =========================================================================== 

From Kompas 3 December 2001 

Newmont Acknowledges the Selling of Used Oil 

Mataram, Kompas 

The gold and copper mining company, PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), has acknowledged their company has sold used oil to UD Sumber Anyar. However, this company has only paid for some of the oil recieved and this is less than the transportation processing costs for used oil from PT NTT's exploration project area, Batu Hijau, Sumbawa District, Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB). 

In a written response from PT NTT and signed by Public Relations Manager, Anton Susanto, recieved by Kompas in Mataram, on Saturday (1/12), the company responded to the accusations of trading of toxic and dangerous (B3) waste, including used lubricants. 

PT NTT stated that the company has strived to followed regulations and laws, including following the procedures regarding B3 wastes. Like Governmental Regulation (PP) No. 01/Bapedal/09/1995 regarding Procedure and Storage and Collection Technical Requirements that have been agreed by the Environmental Impact Control Agency (BAPEDAL) Decree No. 68/27, June 2001. 

PT NTT also stated the use of a company that possesses a license to transport used oil products from Sumbawa to the processing plant in Surabaya, or the plant that handles development and processing of waste in Bogor. 

After UD Sumber Anyar, PT NTT contracted another company that also owns a license to transport used oil products. It has not been touched on whether the products traded included used oil of a B3 waste category and whether the oil that was imported was via PT Caltex Indonesia that have duty free facilities. 

Before this, Bambang Mei from Walhi NTB accused the traded oil products were in violation of B3 waste management and procedures, considering that the oil products were used by PT NTT to obtain the duty-free facilities. (Kompas, 1/12) (rul) 

=====================================
JATAM (Jaringan Advokasi Tambang) Mining Advocacy Network
Jl. Mampang Prapatan II No. 30
RT 04/07 -- Jakarta 12790
INDONESIA
Tel. +62-(0)21-794 1559
Fax. +62-(0)21-791 81683
E-mail: jatam@jatam.org

http://english.jatam.org

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