Response to ESBC Panguna Statement - Dr Gavin Mudd

Dr Gavin Mudd
Environmental Engineering
Monash University

Response to Panguna Statement by ESBC -- ("ESBC Lauds Positive News from Bougainville")

The European Shareholders of Bougainville Copper are clearly still out of touch, proof being this comment: "mining technology made a giant step forward. Severe damage of nature can be avoided today."

What bizarre planet do such comments originate from ?

This is a ridiculous comment - the scientific understanding and technology existed when Bougainville opened, what was missing was the commitment to operate a proper, engineered waste management plan for waste rock and tailings. In Australia in the 1970's almost every single mine was required to build and operate well engineered tailings dams and manage waste rock appropriately (the notable exception being Mt Lyell, Tasmania - which still has Panguna-esque pollution legacy also visible from simple services such as Google Earth).

For waste rock and tailings, the technology has not improved or changed much at all (some would even say imperceptibly), with the only minor differences being the rehabilitation strategies now used combined with better sampling and monitoring during operations. The recognition that poor waste rock and tailings can cause a massive scale of environmental pollution and associated social impacts is certainly better - but in reality the technology has not changed much at all.

Any future operation of Panguna/Bougainville - IF AT ALL - must develop a proper, engineered waste management plan for waste rock and tailings, as well as undertake massive scale works to remove and remediate heavily polluted areas.

This is the legitimate position I understand many locals and landowners are coming from.

In my own professional judgement, I would be extremely skeptical of any claim that 'severe damage … can be avoided'. If BCL were to adopt modern environmental standards such as those they operate to in Australia or the United States, they could certainly minimise the extent and nature of environmental and social impacts - but never avoid them completely. A degree of impacts is the very nature of mining - sound predictions before mining and managing impacts during and after mining requires sound science and not blind faith, hope and industry rhetoric.

Actions speak voluminously louder than words.

I am optimistic and hope I could be convinced otherwise for Panguna/Bougainville - but must remain a realist until proven otherwise.

ENDS

Dr Gavin M Mudd is an Environmental Engineer and a recognised specialist in mining, environmental impacts and sustainablity

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