Freeport steps up environmental programs

Denver — Despite increased political and social tensions in Indonesia, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX-N) is forging ahead with efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its giant Grasberg copper-gold mine in Irian Jaya and improve relations with an ethnically diverse local population that has grown to more than 100,000 from less than 1,000 in just three decades.

At Grasberg, Freeport is working with international experts to study the cause of the Wanagon overburden stockpile slippage and formulate a course of action. The slippage, which occurred a year ago, after a period of excessive rainfall, caused a wave of water and treatment solids (from the lime precipitation of acid rock drainage) to enter the river system near the village of Banti. Four contract employees were killed in the incident.

Although the slippage caused a flow of sediments containing slightly elevated levels of precipitated copper, a subsequent monitoring program and risk assessment revealed no long-term environmental effects. However, during this review, the company initiated a stockpile stabilization program and voluntarily agreed to a temporary limitation on open-pit production at Grasberg.

A safe-zone was identified along the Wanagon River, as well as within the village of Banti. Residents were relocated to new housing (designed according to their wishes) on higher ground in Banti.

Freeport uses a liming plant in the Wanagon basin to neutralize acid rock drainage and to precipitate the dissolved copper. During 2000, a technical study of copper removal treatment options was completed, which led to further testing of three of the most promising schemes. From this work, fluid bed reactor iron cementation technology was found to be the most appropriate. The cementation plant, now being constructed in the mill, will be used to treat acid rock drainage collected from the mining, overburden storage and other areas. The first module is expected to be operational by mid-2001.

The fluid bed reactor — a modern adaptation of the proven process of iron reduction — will be capable of removing dissolved copper from water in the range of about 20 to 1,000 mg per litre. The effluent from the fluid bed reactor will be neutralized with lime solution and added to the tailings thickener, where it can be reused or released with the tailings. The recovered copper will then be sold, and the net proceeds used for community support.

On the social front, Freeport recently awarded a grant of US$248,000 to the Hamak Foundation. Earmarked for women and children, the grant will help build offices and other facilities for human rights and training programs. The foundation, headed by Ms. Yosefa Alomang, intends to hold a major workshop at the facility in 2002.

“We have worked with Ms. Alomang and Hamak on several human rights initiatives, and the results have helped promote dialogue, understanding and mutual trust as positive and peaceful alternatives to the conflicts of the past,” says Judge Gabrielle McDonald, Freeport’s special counsel to the chairman on human rights.

Last year, Freeport and native groups in Irian Jaya signed a comprehensive agreement covering socio-economic resources, human rights, land rights and environmental rights. Since 1996, the company has committed at least 1% of its revenue to a fund for the support of village-based education and health, economic and social development programs. At the end of 2000, contributions had totalled US$74.8 million.