Ok Tedi Mine - BHP-Billiton/Inmet

Joint news release: Oxfam Australia, Mineral Policy Institute and MiningWatch Canada

Australian, Canadian, and US mining companies that persist in dumping billions of tonnes of toxic heavy metals such as mercury and lead into the rivers and oceans of some of the world's poorest countries are causing irreversible environmental damage as well as driving human poverty. This warning came from a coalition of human rights groups and mining watchdogs as mining ministers from the Asia-Pacific region gather in Perth this week for a summit.

Washington, D.C. — A new World Bank report calls on the mining company Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP) to immediately close the troubled Ok Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea due to the environmental damage being caused by the mine. In response to the report, international environmental groups including U.S.-based Mineral Policy Center, the Australia-based Mineral Policy Institute, MiningWatch Canada, and Papua New Guinea's Non-governmental Environmental Watchdog Group, called on BHP to take full responsibility for mine cleanup by implementing a comprehensive mine closure plan.

The Export Development Corporation has been brought forcefully to our attention by communities and non-governmental organizations that have to deal with the impact of Canadian mining development abroad. They want to know what role Canadian institutions play in perpetuating the problems they face, and what — if anything — Canadian citizens are doing to support them.