Papua New Guinea: Mining Project Sparks Fears of Environmental Disaster

A major mining project that could discharge hundreds of millions of tonnes of waste into the sea off Papua New Guinea has raised alarm among local communities, with a non-governmental organisation and a senior religious leader warning of a potential environmental “disaster.”

The project is being developed by two of the world’s largest gold mining companies, U.S.-based Newmont Mining and South Africa’s Harmony Gold, through a joint venture to extract copper and gold from the tropical forests of Morobe Province, in the Pacific island nation north of Australia.

The Papua New Guinean government has backed the project, arguing that its economic benefits could help improve living standards in the developing country.

Mining Waste and Chemicals

“I am here to improve the incomes of our customary landowners and our country,” Prime Minister James Marape said in March when discussing the project.

Known as Wafi-Golpu, the development plans to build a 100-kilometre pipeline to discharge a mixture of crushed rock and processing chemicals into the ocean, citing the lack of a suitable onshore site for storing mining waste.

According to Australian NGO Jubilee Australia Research Centre, the project would release 360 million tonnes of waste over its planned 28-year lifespan using the controversial deep-sea tailings placement method, currently employed by only 15 mines worldwide.

The organisation warns that the waste will contain unknown quantities of heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, nickel, mercury and zinc.

It also argues that coastal communities, which are likely to be the most affected by marine pollution, have not given their free, prior and informed consent to the project.

In a statement to AFP, the joint venture said that deep-sea disposal was “the safest and most environmentally and socially responsible option.”

More than 40 potential onshore waste storage sites were assessed, but none were considered suitable because of heavy rainfall and the high risk of earthquakes.

The company also said that studies had shown the planned deep-sea disposal system posed no risk to human health.

“Our Sea”

The project has also drawn concern from Jack Urame, head bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea, one of the country’s largest religious institutions, whose members account for around 16% of the population, according to government figures.

“If the mining goes ahead, it will be a real catastrophe for the people themselves,” he told AFP.

He said the stretch of coastline holds deep cultural significance.

“Some communities reject the proposal outright because they believe it will destroy the sea, marine life and, in turn, their livelihoods,” he said.

The area is also home to one of the country’s largest nesting populations of leatherback turtles, a species listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The project has also sparked concern among residents of the coastal village of Yanga.

“We do not want your pipeline running through our village,” village elders wrote in a petition dated 2024 and seen by AFP.

“We, the people of Yanga, have not given our consent, so we want you to leave our ancestral land,” the petition states. “This has been our fishing ground for generations. It is our beach and our sea.”