Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia; Mineral Policy Institute, Girrawheen, WA 6064, Australia.
Mineral Policy Institute, Girrawheen, WA 6064, Australia; Centre for Responsible Citizenship and Sustainability, Murdoch University, Perth, WA 6150, Australia.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Nov 1;741:140375. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140375. Epub 2020 Jun 20.
Mining is often portrayed as a contributor to sustainable development, especially so in developing countries such as Papua New Guinea (PNG). Since 1970, several large mines have been developed in PNG (e.g. Panguna, Ok Tedi, Porgera, Lihir, Ramu) but always with controversial environmental standards and social impacts often overlooked or ignored. In PNG, mine wastes are approved to be discharged to rivers or oceans on a very large scale, leading to widespread environmental and social impacts - to the point of civil war in the case of Panguna. The intimate links between indigenous communities and their environment have invariably been under-estimated or ignored, leading many to question mining's role in PNG's development. Here, we review the geology of PNG, its mineral resources, mining history, key trends for grades and resources, environmental metrics (water, energy, carbon), mine waste management, and regulatory and governance issues. The study provides a unique and comprehensive insight into the sustainable development contribution of the mining industry in PNG - especially the controversial practices of riverine and marine mine waste disposal. The history of mining is a complex story of the links between the anthroposphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and geosphere. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that the scale of environmental and social impacts and risks are clearly related to the vast scale of mine wastes - a fact which remains been poorly recognised. For PNG, the promise of mining-led development remains elusive to many communities and they are invariably left with significant social and environmental legacies which will last for decades to centuries (e.g. mine waste impacts on water resources). Most recently, the PNG government has moved to ban riverine tailings disposal for future projects and encourage greater transparency and accountability by the mining sector, including its interactions with communities. There remains hope for better outcomes in the future.
采矿常被描绘为可持续发展的贡献者，尤其是在巴布亚新几内亚（PNG）等发展中国家。自 1970 年以来，PNG 已经开发了几个大型矿山（例如庞戈纳、奥克泰迪、波格拉、利希尔、拉穆），但始终存在有争议的环境标准和社会影响，这些往往被忽视或忽略。在 PNG，矿山废物被批准大规模排放到河流或海洋中，导致广泛的环境和社会影响——在庞戈纳的情况下，甚至导致了内战。土著社区与其环境之间的密切联系始终被低估或忽视，这导致许多人质疑采矿在 PNG 发展中的作用。在这里，我们回顾了 PNG 的地质、矿产资源、采矿历史、品位和资源的主要趋势、环境指标（水、能源、碳）、矿山废物管理以及监管和治理问题。该研究提供了对 PNG 采矿业可持续发展贡献的独特而全面的了解——特别是河流和海洋矿山废物处置的有争议的做法。采矿历史是人类圈、生物圈、水圈和岩石圈之间联系的复杂故事。最终，本研究表明，环境和社会影响和风险的规模与矿山废物的巨大规模密切相关——这一事实仍未得到充分认识。对于 PNG，许多社区对矿业主导的发展仍然感到渺茫，他们总是留下重大的社会和环境遗产，这些遗产将持续数十年甚至数百年（例如，矿山废物对水资源的影响）。最近，PNG 政府已采取行动禁止未来项目的河流尾矿处置，并鼓励矿业部门提高透明度和问责制，包括其与社区的互动。未来仍有更好结果的希望。
