Post by LSDeep on Aug 10, 2005 22:01:11 GMT -5
Newmont Mining Corp., on trial in Indonesia for allegedly polluting a bay near its now-closed Minahasa Raya gold mine, says the weight of the evidence will show the tons of mining waste the company dumped into Bayat Bay hasn't harmed the water, the fish that swim in it, or the people that have eaten the fish.
"The water is fine, the fish are fine, the people are fine," said Blake Rhodes, Newmont's associate general counsel, to a group of Denver reporters Tuesday. "Our contention is we've done no harm and there's no environmental pollution. And if there's no environmental pollution then there's no crime under the law."
And if the Denver-based gold mining giant loses its case before a panel of five Indonesian judges, the company will appeal, Rhodes said.
Newmont (NYSE: NEM) has gold mining operations around the world. Its Minahasa mine closed on schedule in August 2004 after eight years in operation. A second copper-gold mine in Indonesia called Batu Hijau, which Newmont operates and holds a 45 percent ownership interest, is the largest copper mine in Asia.
Newmont and the American president of its Indonesian operations, Richard Ness, have been indicted in criminal court of intentionally or negligently causing environmental pollution -- defined by Indonesian law as impairing the ability of the environment to perform. The trial's first hearing was held Aug. 5. The trial is expected to last for six to eight months.
Ness faces up to 10 years in prison and a $68,000 fine if convicted. Five other Newmont executives were jailed for a month last fall. Prosecutors have said they won't be charged in the case. The company also is fighting a $133.6 million civil suit filed by the government over the pollution allegations.
Several studies have been done of the water and fish in the bay by a host of players, including Newmont, the Indonesian government, the Indonesian police which filed the case, and the World Health Organization.
In a PowerPoint presentation, Rhodes laid out the results of tests side by side for arsenic and mercury levels in water and fish.
Virtually all the studies showed similarly low levels of arsenic and mercury in the water, levels below the Indonesian standard -- but with one notable exception. Results of samples taken by the Indonesian police in July 2004 were far above results from the rest of the studies, including the results of Newmont's samples taken at the same time, from the same boat, as the police' samples, Rhodes said.
The studies also showed levels of arsenic and mercury in fish that swam in the bay were below acceptable limits.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 19.
© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.
"The water is fine, the fish are fine, the people are fine," said Blake Rhodes, Newmont's associate general counsel, to a group of Denver reporters Tuesday. "Our contention is we've done no harm and there's no environmental pollution. And if there's no environmental pollution then there's no crime under the law."
And if the Denver-based gold mining giant loses its case before a panel of five Indonesian judges, the company will appeal, Rhodes said.
Newmont (NYSE: NEM) has gold mining operations around the world. Its Minahasa mine closed on schedule in August 2004 after eight years in operation. A second copper-gold mine in Indonesia called Batu Hijau, which Newmont operates and holds a 45 percent ownership interest, is the largest copper mine in Asia.
Newmont and the American president of its Indonesian operations, Richard Ness, have been indicted in criminal court of intentionally or negligently causing environmental pollution -- defined by Indonesian law as impairing the ability of the environment to perform. The trial's first hearing was held Aug. 5. The trial is expected to last for six to eight months.
Ness faces up to 10 years in prison and a $68,000 fine if convicted. Five other Newmont executives were jailed for a month last fall. Prosecutors have said they won't be charged in the case. The company also is fighting a $133.6 million civil suit filed by the government over the pollution allegations.
Several studies have been done of the water and fish in the bay by a host of players, including Newmont, the Indonesian government, the Indonesian police which filed the case, and the World Health Organization.
In a PowerPoint presentation, Rhodes laid out the results of tests side by side for arsenic and mercury levels in water and fish.
Virtually all the studies showed similarly low levels of arsenic and mercury in the water, levels below the Indonesian standard -- but with one notable exception. Results of samples taken by the Indonesian police in July 2004 were far above results from the rest of the studies, including the results of Newmont's samples taken at the same time, from the same boat, as the police' samples, Rhodes said.
The studies also showed levels of arsenic and mercury in fish that swam in the bay were below acceptable limits.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 19.
© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.