TJAPESBLOG9: Ok Tedi Mine, Papua New Guinea

Introduction:

Ok Tedi mine (Ock Ted) is located in Papua New Guinea and is close to the Ok Tedi river. It is an open pit mine that mines Copper (Cu) and Gold (Au). These two are both minerals and Cu is used daily in people's lives. Currently mining is something that we can't live without because our world runs off of what is mined. That being said mining is still apart of the pollution problem and society needs to find cleaner, better, and safer way to gather certain resources that are needed in day to day lives. ("OK Tedi Mine, Oceania." Mining Technology. Mining Technology, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.)


	Tattersall, Miss. "Copper Ores." Copper Ores. Blogspot, 25 June 2013. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.

Background Information:

Ok Tedi mine occupies Papua New Guinea, a place within Australia. It is within the mountains, and due to the of 8,896,577 Cu and Au being mined from it the mine has definitely left it's mark. The mine is a huge, open pit mine located on what was once Mt. Fubulan, but the mountain has since been mined down.

PNG Mine Watch. "Ok Tedi Mining Limited to Be Served Court Orders." Papua New Guinea Mine Watch. WordPress.com, 26 Jan. 2014. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.

Ok Tedi is owned by BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary), and owned by the OTML (Ok Tedi Mining Limited) (Burton, Bob. "Asia Times: BHP Admits Ok Tedi Mine Is Environmental Disaster." Asia Times: BHP Admits Ok Tedi Mine Is Environmental Disaster. Asia Times, 13 Aug. 1999. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.)

Near the Ok Tedi mine, a township called Tabubil exists. The township was created primarily to serve the mine in its operations. Another town, called Kiunga is near the mine, which is a port town servicing the mine on the Fly River. (Campbell, Ian. "Ok Tedi Mine – Leaving Time Bombs on the Fly River Floodplain." River Symposium. River Symposium, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.)

"The Fly River, near Lake Murray in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. The Run-off from Destructive and Illegal Logging Pollutes These Waterways." Greenpeace International. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.

Coming from the mine, as stated earlier, is a huge amount of copper and gold, though copper is the main resource mined from this open pit mine. This mine provides the copper for many everyday uses, such as wire, motors, coins, and other daily uses. These uses are mostly electricity based, due to the nature of the copper and how it conducts heat and electricity extremely well. ("How Copper Is Used." Australian Mines Atlas. Australian Mines Atlas, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.)

"ParaWire." ParaWire. Parawire, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.

The mine was also subject to a huge environmental disaster, which will be further explained in the discussion.

Discussion:

Ok Tedi mine uses multiple ways to extract Cu and Au, the two main ways is heat or water. Ok Tedi has managed to avoid PNG's environmental laws and has exposed waste to the surrounding Ok Tedi river, this was due to the landslide that had occurred, and now because of it people who use the river are the ones who suffer the effects the most alongside with the fish ecosystem. ("Ok Tedi, Papua New Guinea." Ok Tedi, Papua New Guinea. WWF Panda, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.)

"Introduction to Mineral Processing." Introduction to Mineral Processing. Chevron Phillips, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.

Currently it seems that there are no plans that are being put into place on creating a better future for Ok Tedi mine because of the case that is defending it. Therefore, even though 80,000 tons of limestone sludge has been put into the Ok Tedi and the Fly river, there won't be action to fix it until the case of Ok Tedi can be broken. ("Ok Tedi Immunity Gone, with Implications beyond BHP." The Conversation. The Conversation, 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.) The Limestone sludge was washed away by rainfall, and was swept into surrounding rainforests, swamps, and creeks, and left behind 30 square kilometers of dead land. The only opportunity for this to change was the people's voice against this but even that hasn't made a change.

"Skeletal Micritic Limestone from Worland Limestone, Pennsylvanian." Skeletal Micritic Limestone from Worland Limestone, Pennsylvanian. Lake Neosho, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.

Conclusion:

Overall the future for Ok Tedi mine is there, and it is has potential to get better, but because of the strong need for Cu and Au it seems like it might be dismissed. Due to this the river and surrounding environment will have to suffer the most and so will the people.

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