Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Billion dollar PNG nickel mine project under threat after failed court bid

Posted at 08:35 on 19 July, 2010 UTC

The management of the huge Chinese financed Ramu nickel mine project in Madang Province in Papua New Guinea say its viability is under threat.

The company, RAMU NICO, says it’s disappointed the Supreme Court last week failed to lift the injunction stopping construction of a system to dispose of mining waste in Madang’s Basamuk Bay.

The controversial plan is supported by the Government but opposed by landowners and environmental groups.

The company claims its already spent more than a billion US dollars on a project for which it had approval ten years ago.

It says every day the project is held up is costing over two million US dollars and says this is unsustainble with the impact on the overall plant viability likely to be far-reaching.

But it says it’s confident a full trial on the issues in the National Court of Madang will resolve the issues satisfactorily.