4th PNG Alluvial Mining and Trade Show 2018

Alluvial Mining and Trade Show in Lae begins Today 14/08/18

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Wafi-Golpu Mining Warden Hearing at Wenebele and Bawaga Villages.

The Mining Warden Hearing for Wafi-Golpu Support tenements for SML 10 application commenced on Monday the 2^nd of July 2018 at Wenebele and Bawaga Villages.

The Wenebele village of Yanta clan and Bawaga Village of Hengambu comprising of Elemu Gwagu and Demagu clans and Wonkins Village of Babuaf Clans are the primary landowners of the SML area and together with the LMPs and MEs under application for the Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture.

Yanta clan have four groups while Hengambu has three Landowner groups/clans have turned up during the meeting in numbers and gave their views in regards to the tenement applications.

Firstly, the Community Affaires superintendent of Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture, Mr.David Masani introduced the warden hearing team to the landowners and opened with a word of prayer to commence hearing. Then handed over to chief Mining Warden of Papua New Guinea, Mr, and Andrew to actually proceed into the Mining Warden Hearing.

The Chief Warden , Mr, Andrew Gunua conducted the Mining Warden Hearing  for Mining Easements comprise of ME 91, Me 93, ME 94. He explained the process of application with displays of posters and explained simplified illustrations with the flow chats of how an SML and supporting tenements are granted following due processes.

He further explained the warden hearing procedure and order of hearing.

The Chief Warden then allowed the company representative to explain to the warden hearing parties of the amendment to the orginal applications and the new work plans and David Masani explained exactly the company’s intention for the three amended ME applications.

The Chief Warden after recording the company’s work plan, he allowed the landowners to give their views whether they support the company’s application or object the applications. The people raised few concerns and asked few questions for the benefit of doubts of which the Chief Warden provided response which were of satisfactory to them.

The Chief Warden then closed the meeting upon satisfying all the requirements under the Mining Act 1992 regarding wardens hearing.

Further questions regarding benefits and other agreement meetings were raised after the meeting and the landowners were advised that, there will be a Development Forum of which the Mining Minister will officially open for them to further discuss matters of this regard.

The Project Coordinator Moses Mambu briefly explained the Development Forum to the landowners and the landowners were looking forward to the Development Forum later during the month.

The same procedure was followed at the Bawaga Village and warden hearings for ME 91, me 93 and ME 94 at both venues were successfully completed. These conclude the Mining Warden Hearing for the First Day and the warden hearing team anticipates  to complete the rest of the hearings in the remaining days.



Chief Mining Warden, Mr.Andrew Gunua Explaining the Flow Chat for SML Application Process at Yanta Community Hall

Landowner Acting Deputy President of Yanta, Mr.Johnson Ruben Responded during the Warden Hearing at Wenebele(Yanta Community Hall)

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Wafi-Golpu Mining Warden Hearing Team From MRA travels to Lae on the 1st of July 2028

The Wafi-Golpu Mining Warden Hearing Team of three officers travel to Lae for the hearing this week from 2nd to 5th July 2018.

The Hearings  will commence on Monday nd of July and ends on Thursday 5th of July 2018.

Updates will be provided in this site from each day of the hearing.

Stay in tune for updates.

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Wafi-Golpu SML 10, Mining Warden Hearing for Supporting Tenements.

The Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture is a 50/50  joint venture between Newcrest and Harmony Gold to fund and operate the Wafi-Golpu porphyry gold-copper deposit in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea.

The Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture has applied for a Special Mining Lease SML10 with the Mineral Resources Authority,MRA, together with supporting Tenements such and Lease for Mining Purposes,LMP and Mining Easements, ME.

Mining Warden Hearing is one of the requirements under the Mining Act 1992 and is part of application process for lease grant. Thus, part of the hearing for SML 10 were conducted in 2016 .

Due to some technical considerations, part of the feasibility study was ongoing during the submission of SML 10. Thus, some of the support Tenements were lodged with the MRA  later in 2017-2018.

As such, Mining Warden Hearings for the support Tenements will be conducted on the 2nd July 2018 to 5th July 2018.

The Hearings will start at Yanta Community Hall and Hengambu Community Hall on Monday 2/7/18.
Then on Tuesday 3/7/18 Hearing will continue at Babuaf Community Hall.
on Wednesday,4/7/18 Hearing will be at Wampar LLG Hall near Nadzap airport and at Zifasing at 40 Mile.
On Thursday 5/7/18, Hearing will conclude at Lae indoor sports stadium and Wagang Hall.

The awareness of the Tenements were  conducted by the company officers at the affected communities and the landholders of the affected communities are expected to turn up during the fixed dates and time to give their views whether to support or object the applications and their proposed Tenements/facilities.

• For further inquiries in this regard, leave a comment on www.minewastes.com comment page.

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APEC Mining Task Force Chair Pays visit to Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) of Papua New Guinea(PNG)

Following a hectic APEC first Senior Official Meeting (SOM 1) meeting held in Port Moresby from 5 – 6 March 2018, the APEC Mining Task (MTF) Force Chair from Chile, Mr Rodrigo Urquiza Caroca made time available on 6 March, 2018 to visit the Mineral Resources Authority and the MTF team. He was introduced to the staff of the Regulatory Operations Division by the Executive Manager, Mr. Roger Gunson.

The APEC MTF Chair plays a key role in coordinating MTF activities within APEC economies that are associated with mineral trade and investment, governance, best practices and policies.

The visit was timely for the MRA as it discussed preparation for the upcoming APEC Mining Week, which is scheduled to be held this year in the APEC third Senior Official Meeting (SOM 3) from 17 – 25 August, 2018.

The APEC Mining Week features key sessions involving public private dialogue on mining issues and best practices in the APEC economies, mining companies CEOs meeting and APEC economies’ Minister Responsible for Mining meeting.

Mr. Caroca was then taken to Motukea wharf to see under water mining equipment. He was impressed to see the level of advance PNG made in terms of innovation and technology in its mining sector.

Mr. Caroca was presented PNG gifts, which include a cane woven tray, two hand-made highlands Bilums (bag) and a packet of local PNG coffee.

Mr. Caroca thanked the ROD’s staff for the gifts and he said he will take them with him to Chile.

Roger Gunson- EM ROD(Left) presenting the present to Mr.Rodrigo Urquiza Caroca(Middle) and Chief Mining Warden of MRA, Mr.Andrew Gunua(Right), 

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Osarizawa Mine in Akita Prefecture, Japan

Osarizawa Underground Mine Adit

Osarizawa mine is an abandoned mine in Akita Prefecture, Japan. Event though the mine is closed, the mine site is kept for sightseeing purposes.  The Osarizawa mine deposit is a vein type deposit  which was  discovered in 708. The oldest Literature of the mine was written in 1599 about the discovery of the Gojumaizawa gold deposit which is part of the mine. The main commodities produced by the mine were gold and copper.

The vein deposit was mined using the shrinkage stope mining method. There are 15 levels and are 30m apart in height. The Total perimeter of the mine levels is 700 km. The area of the mine site is 3km N-S by  2km E-W ~ 6km² . Ceiling is 2-3m in width.   

The Level Zero starts at RL of about 300m and this is where the access adit (ingress) is built.  There are 5 levels above the  zero level and 10 levels below zero level. The mining progressed upwards and mined materials were collected at lower levels with the aid of gravity.

The host rock of the ore deposit is silicate mudstone which is 10 times harder than concrete. Since the host rock is highly competent, the mine was almost unsupported and less artificial support. Few supporting materials used were logs/timbers of about 10mm to 300mm in diameter which were fitted well in between mined out areas to prevent wall collapse. Other artificial supporting methods are roof bolts, Mass wires and steel spiral cables drilled upwards to prevent rocks from falling. Timbers are replaced every 10 years. The other supporting method used was the backfilling of mined out areas with waste materials. Underground water is effectively under control by plastic roofing gutters and drained out along the side of the concrete pathway at each level.

The mined out ore/materials were transported by mini rail cars which are powered by batteries. The rail cars were attached to one another like train cars. The railways were built for these small battery powered rail cars. The drilled or broken ores were loaded onto the rail cars and it required either one or two operators to transport the materials out of the mine via shaft by way of hoisting. At Zero Level the rail cars were driven out via the adit and further to the processing plant for processing.

 Production increased with the increase in the rail cars.

Note:This article is an observation report and may not contain factual and detail information. The information here is kept at high level only. This article is subject to change if need be.

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Mining Warden Hearing in Papua New Guinea

Mining Warden Hearing is an open forum to gauge public views of the people who would be affected by an exploration work program or any activity related to mining. It is one of the requirements in the Mining Act 1992 for any kind of mining related licence/lease grant.

Warden Hearing is conducted in accordance with Section 108 of the Mining Act 1992. During the Mining Warden Hearing, the warden on the ground explains the purpose of the meeting and allow the applicant or an agent  of the applicant to explain the work program in brief to the stakeholders present. The applicant/agent explains the work program or the proposal for development to the warden and the people at the hearing venue on the date and time fixed for the hearing.

The warden then allow the people who are within the tenement boundary or  just around the tenement boundary who would be affected by the applicant's proposal for development to give their views and further advise them to make clear their stand with reasons whether they support the application or otherwise. The warden then records and assess the views of the affected landholders.

The warden also allow people whom he considers that, the work program for the applicant will also affect them to give their views as well and he will record and assess them.

Finally the warden allows the local government representative of the host province if any present at the hearing venue on the date and time fixed for hearing to give the views on behalf of the host government wether it could be Local Level Government or Provincial Government.

Without further delay the warden thank all the people for fulfilling the requirements under the Mining Act 1992 under Section 108.

The warden may adjourn the hearing from time to time and from place to place where feasible and economical.

The Warden prior to opening the hearing, he explains that anything related to land disputes and environment matters are not discussed in this forum.  Such disputes or issues are to be brought forward to relevant government bodies to address them accordingly. i.e. Land dispute matters to be brought to the attention of Lands and Physical Planning Department and Environment matters to Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA).

Mining Warden Hearing at Ok Isai, for the Frieda River SML 9 Application in the West Sepik Province 

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Bulolo Opposing New Exploration

 
The Bulolo people (both local & Business Communities) have overwhelmingly objected the Exploration Licence Application lodged by Wabu Alluvials Limited which is also a local company.

 As a process of licence grant, the applicant must meet the requirements specified in the Mining Act 1992 of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

Wabu Alluvials Limited lodged an Exploration License Application with the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) to obtain an Exploration Licence to explore for minerals. While the licence is under the process of granting or refusal by the Minister for Mining, the local communities and the business communities lodged written objections with the Mineral Resources Authority through the office of The Chief Mining Warden. The landholders objected the ELA stating that the company will disturb their environment and also interrupt their routine business activities. They even published on the National News Paper through the Bulolo District Administrator Tae Gwambelek.

It is a requirement under the Mining Act 1992 that the applicant must facilitate a Mining Warden Hearing which is conducted by the appointed Mining Warden to gauge the views of the affected landholders, pursuant to Section 108 of The Mining Act 1992.  Once the views of the affected landholders are gauged, a report of this hearing is provided to the Mining Advisory Council (MAC) for further deliberation to the Minister for Mining. Finally, the Mining Minister has the final authority whether to grant the licence or otherwise based on MAC’s Advice.

All the related licences/leases specified under the Mining Act 1992 follow the same process. This is transparent and views of the affected stakeholders are fairly gauged.

WardenHearing for this application was adjourned to a later date which will be fixed by the Registrar of Mineral Tenements and the Chief Mining Warden.

The next post will be the procedures of Mining Warden Hearing Process. Stay in tune

News Paper Article opposing the exploration application.

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Mine Waste Disposal in Papua New Guinea

Mine waste disposal is any waste related to mining is disposed into any environment. Environment could be land, river or deep sea or tailings dam. Waste can be either solid or slurry.

Most of the mining companies in PNG provide shallow reasons to government to allow them to dispose mine waste into river or deep sea tailing placements.

Some of these factors include but not limited to:
- Topography
- Climatic conditions.
-Geological structures with respect to seismic activities.
- Soil/rock competency etc..

The above are the factors that pose threat to the tailings dam construction, thus developers propose to dump tailings into riverine and deep sea tailings placement.

Hidden Valley mine and K92 mine have built TSF  and it is anticipated that other new mining projects could build TSF.

PNG should completely discourage riverine tailings and DSTP in PNG and encourage TSF to save PNG from mining waste management issues.

Hidden Valley Mine Tailings Storage Facility (TSF)

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Mine Waste Management Training in Japan, 2017

Mine Waste Management Short training sponsored by Government of Japan through JICA in co-orporation with the Government of PNG through CEPA, MRA and DMPGM.

The training lasted two weeks and 6 officers from MRA and CEPA attended the training. The training comprise of theory and practicals and site inspections throughout Japan.

The training was a good exposure and skills acquired will be applied in drafting policies to encourage mining with environment friendly manner.This project will continue till 2018.

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Landowner Compensation in Mining Industry of Papua New Guinea

Landowner compensation is any sum of money paid by an exploration or mining company based on the value of disturbances caused by the company during exploration or mining.

Landholders of any exploration or mining activity are entitled to receive compensation payment depending on the value of disturbance to the environment. The Exploration company or the mining operator is liable to pay compensation under the  Mining Act 1992 (S.154) for Papua New Guinea.

During the exploration phase, there are no agreements signed between landholders and the explorer prior to exploration. Only mutual agreements are made prior  to actual exploration and compensation is paid according to Valuer General's Latest Schedule. The Latets Valuer General's Schedule is the 2013 version. Other rates for the extractive industry can be access at the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum office.

Prior to entry and occupation and development of a Mining or ancillary operation to mining, a Compensation Agreement is a requirement for the developer and the landholders whom they will be affected by the mining operation or its related operation(s). Once agreements are signed and registered, it becomes legal document that will guide the operation in the intended aspect.

Compensation payment can be one-off payment or periodic payment depending on the agreement. In exploration, they are one-off payment of compensation in which one cannot claim compensation on the same area which was already compensated.

Compensation Agreement in the Mining Lease or Special Mining Lease and related leases and easements is a requirement. Once it is registered for execution, it becomes a legal document and it guids the operation.

Typical Disturbance of Natural Topography

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Landowner Grievances in Mining Industry of Papua New Guinea (PNG)

Landowner Grievances is any form of complaints or request raise by landowning clans/tribes/families to the exploration or mining developer. Grievances can be addressed to government or developer/company for consideration and action.

The threat to the Mining Industry of PNG is the Landowner Grievances during the Exploration phase throughout the stages of mine i.e. to advanced stages to development stage to production to shipment.

Chief Mining Warden of Mineral Resources Authority Conducting
Mining Warden Hearing for Special Mining Lease 9 (SML 9) for Frieda River
 at Ok Isai  Village in Sandaun Province

If an exploration company is given an Exploration Licence to explore within 2 years with a possibility to renew every 2 years, the licence authorise the holder the exclusive rights to enter and occupy the marked out area for the purpose of exploration.

In the process of exploration some of the natural environment is disturbed and the holder is liable to pay compensation under Section 154 of the Mining Act 1992. The holder shall compensate according to the latest Valuer General's Schedule (Rate). The current one is the 2013 Valuer General Schedule 2013. During the exploration the license holder record any natural landscape before actual disturbance is done.

Sometimes, the landowners misunderstand exploration from mining and they demand the exploration company to pay them compensation at a dreamed figures that do not actually reflect the disturbances caused during the exploration. This is a common practice for almost all landowners.

Once the exploration phase is advanced to a stage where resource information is discovered and reported under JORC Code 2012 or any other reporting standards in the world, landowners get excited and put more pressure on the license holder in terms of handling landowner grievances.

There are two types of landowners, the legitimate landowners and paper landowners. Legitimate landowners are those who can be identified on the ground at the project area whereas paper landowners are those who claim to be landowners who usually have easy access to the mining company's/companies' offices and the mining regulators' offices.

Landowners at Ok Isai Village gave their views during the Mining
Warden Hearing of SML 9 - Frieda River Mining Project

To cater for and take into consideration such grievances, the Mining Act makes allowances for the landowners to express their views/grievances to the company and the regulators during Mining Wardens Hearing and Development Forums. These are avenues where landowner views/grievances are gauged and addressed through appropriate communication channels.

However, when landowner issues are not addressed properly, conflict arises the developer and sometimes its operations are forced to shutdown due to tension between developer and landowners. In such cases, the regulators and the company quickly resolve through community relations office of the developer.

Handling landowner grievances is always a challenge for the PNG Mining Industry.

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Mining Regulators in Papua New Guinea

Mining Regulators are the Government organisations that either directly or indirectly regulate the Mining Industry in Papua New Guinea(PNG).

The Mining Industry of Papua New Guinea is regulated by three Government agencies. The Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) of PNG. Department of Mineral Policy and Geohazard Management (DMPGM) and Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA).

DMPGM is responsible for drafting and amending legislation related to mining operations in PNG.

Conservation and Environment Protection Authority is responsible for issuing Environment Permit, regulating and monitoring the industry in terms of environment protection and conservation as stipulates in the Environment Act 2000. CEPA plays a vital role in reviewing Environment Impact Studies and approve Environment Permit with conditions based on widely accepted best practice in managing mining related waste.

The Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) is the Active Regulator of the Mining Industry in Papua New Guinea. MRA is a Government Agency and all functions are performed on behalf of the Government.

Staff of Mineral Resources Authority at Mining Haus, Port Moresby, PNG

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Mines in Papua New Guinea (PNG)

The Independent State of Papua New Guinea Hosts some of the world class mines and medium to smalle scale mines that produce various mineral types. PNG is analogically express by most people as "Mountain of Gold Floating on ocean of Oil surrounded by Natural Gas".

The world class large scale mines in PNG include:

• Ok Tedi Copper & Gold Mine

Ok Tedi Mine is an open pit mine that produces copper, gold and silver as major commodities and other impurities of heavy metal contents like pyrite, lead, zinc etc. It is located at the the Star Mountain in the Western Province of PNG.

•  Porgera Gold Mine

Porgera Gold Mine is an underground and open pit mine that produces gold and silver. It is located in Enga Province of PNG.

• Lihir Gold Mine

Lihir Gold Mine is an open pit mine that produces gold and it is located at the Island of Gold, Lihir, New Ireland Province of PNG.

• Ramu Nickel & Cobalt Mine.

Ramu Nickel Mine is an open pit mine that produce Nickel,Cobalt, Chromite. It is located in the Madang Province of PNG.

• Hidden Valley Gold Mine

Hidden Valley is a large scale open pit mine that produces silver and gold. It is located in the Wau Bulolo Area in the Morobe Province of PNG.

Some of the Medium to Small Scale Mining Operations in PNG include:

• Simberi Gold

Simber is a medium scale open pit mine that produces Gold and Silver and is located in the New Ireland Province of PNG.

• Tolukuma Gold Mine

 Tolukuma is a Medium scale open pit and underground mine that produces gold and silver. It is located in the Central Province of PNG.

• Kainantu (K92) Mine

K92 Mine is an underground Mine that produces gold and silver. It is Located in the Estern Highlands Province of PNG.

• Eddie Creek Mine

Eddie Creek is a small scale open pit mining operation that produces gold and silver. It is located near the old mining townships of Bulolo and Wau in the Morobe Province of PNG.

• Mt.Sinivit Mine

Mt.Sinivit Mine is an abandoned mine but it has a potential for further development. It Produced gold and silver. It is located in the Pomio District , Rabaul in The East New Britain Province.

• Mt.Crater Gold Mine

Mt.Crater is a small scale underground mine in PNG that produces gold and silver. It is located in the Eastern Highlands Province.

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Mining Waste Management in Papua New Guinea is a Challenge

Challenge in the Mine Waste Management refers to difficulties experience by mining industry in managing the mine related wastes in order to effectively protect the surrounding environment.

Factors contribute to the issues in the Mining Industry include but not limited to:

• Natural Factors
• Waste/mine water treatment and tailings /waste discharge into river systems and Deep Sea  Tailings Placement (DSTP).
• Disputes between landowners...

Natural factors in the tropics with  high altitude and high annual rainfall (2000-5000mm) pose threat to the stability of tailings dam construction due to potential failure.

Other factors that attracts more attention are tectonic plate movements and structures along or near the Pacific Rim of Fire.

In such circumstances, the Mining Industry discharges waste into the river systems which causes pollution to the riverine and ecology within the vicinity of the mine impacted communities downstream.

Deep See Tailings Placement is another option that the industry looks at where there is no river system that is feasible to discharge tailings.

Continuous deposition of waste and tailings into the river systems not only cause pollution but also sedimentation and turbidity issues that reflect in the river course diversion and disturb the environment.

The Mining Industry utilizes all available technologies to treat waste water at processing plant sites and raise the pH to 8-12. There are certain spots where water samples collected and tested to analyse the water quality. Mine Waste Management is always a challenge even though continuous efforts invested every second.

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Mercury Pollution and Prevention Measures In Papua New Guinea

Mercury is a heavy silvery-white liquid metal used in some thermometers and barometers. (Symbol: Hg). It is also used to extract fine gold from the mixture of fine sand. Dispose of mercury into the environment is harmful.

Mercury is used in many ways and people do not realize when it gets released into the environment which in turn causes mercury pollution.

In Papua New Guinea almost all Small Scale Miners use mercury in the amalgamation process during gold recovery from the fine sands. Mercury is used in different ways to recover gold. some pour in between the riffles on the sluice boxes in an attempt to capture fine-grained gold.

The contact time between the gold and mercury is not effective for the amalgamation to occur. Often fine gold remains suspended in the flow of particles above the riffles and do not settles to contact the mercury. Thus, about 30  percent (%) of mercury used in sluice boxes in PNG is release into the river systems.This is actually a treat to the environment.

The Mineral Resources Authority's Small Scale Mining Branch in Wau- Morobe Province try its best to train local miners especially small scale miners on Safe Use and Handling Of Mercury in the process of amalgamation. The Training Center also train the miners other alternatives to be use in the gold recovery process to avoid use of mercury.

Other alternative methods of gold recovery techniques the small scale miners should be looking at would be Gravity Separation methods in the recovery of fine gold.
Gravity separation methods are vital and best alternatives to engaged instead of Mercury. Such methods include but not limited to:

•  Recovery of Fined Size of gold grain should use Shaking table, Humphreys spiral, Pinced sluices, Reichert cone, etc..
•  Recovery of more finer gold particle should use Nelson concentrator, Falcon concentrator.

The mercury released into the environment is unaccounted for and undetected. Mercury can be detected by a Rapid Pack-test by use of Rapid pack test kits. However, rapid pack test is not available in the country and it is anticipated that pack-test kits will be imported from overseas to use for training and study purposes. 

The next strategy is to ban import of mercury and introduce the alternative gold recovery methods and draft a treatment strategy through research and training. 

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Mine Waste Management

Mine Waste refers to the waste related to mining activities such as tailings,waste rock, sediment, chemical residues, etc . Management refer to how the mine derived waste is managed by the operator and or the Regulatory  Bodies.

This site welcomes critics and comments and suggestions related to the Mine Waste Management to improve the lives of people living within the vicinity of mine impact areas.

Subscribe for latest updates and comment for discussions and questions on our Forum Page

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