Environmental Impact of Mining Industry

Oleh Dewa Gumay

AGENCY of Business miner, government, and economic expert, smart in frame mining investment, such as mineral mining, oil, and gas. Beginning of frame foreign exchange, provide employment, speedy economic growth, until reduce of poor statistic. ‘Framing’ perfect, yet, truly mining industry will be bringing prosperity for people.

There is a joke, which said often by group of pro mining while comment critical attitude from peoples refuse attendance mining industry, its site. More or less, ‘If not agree with mining, back again to Palaeolithic era, and never using equipment from mineral raw’. This joke they are doing as philosophy suicide on disability them to explaining relation with mining and prosperity which truly not positive relation.

Aceh will be immediately enter to phase of mining industry or exploitation industry regime, to replacing hydrocarbon regime at the Aceh Utara was faille to answer mean of prosperity Aceh peoples, eventually result of oil and gas in the Arun field for yearly become APBN supporting (budget of country) in Indonesia at the Orde Baru, Soeharto regime.

Signs will emerge of mining industry regime particularly gold and coal in Aceh was emerge eye of ahead. At the Department of Forestry was queue 10 of Mining Corporate, waiting permit shift of forest function to exploration mining activities. At the Nagan Raya district, PT Surya Kencana was step ahead, exploration of gold and coal. On the same of cases happening at the Aceh Tengah and east cost of Aceh.

Mining industry is not sustainability industry because depend on natural resources or not renewable resources. If there are group pro mining sure that mining industry in Aceh will prosperity bringing, how the environment impact will legacy from mining industry, particularly after operation? Just will more poor of peoples in the mining surrounding.

Environment management in mining operation suppose covering all of phase mining activities that, beginning exploration, production, until mine closure. Learning from case of mine closure doing by PT Barisan Tropical Mining (owned by Laverton Gold Australia) at the Sumatera Selatan Province, PT Indo Moro Kencana (owned by Aurora Gold Australia), PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (owned by Newmont USA), and PT Kelian Equatorial Mining (owned by Rio Tinto England-Australia). Aceh must be learning from cases of mining in the others region in Indonesia.

Phenomenon that happen on mining industry in Indonesia, the mining corporate have impenetrability of law, not obedient of environment order, and free doing pollution not scare getting of punishment. The others behaviour is dismissal waste of mining with way of primitive, dismissal direction of tailing waste to river, lake, and sea.

Legacy of Mining Industry

Mining industry on mine closure phase will leave many legacy have dangerous potency in long-term, such as, pit, sour water mines (acid mine drainage), and tailing.

PIT, Mostly mineral mining in Indonesia conducted with open mining. While is finished operating, corporate will leaving giant pit at the mining area. That pits potentially evoking of environmental impact in long-term, particularly related with water quality and quantity.

Mines water pit contain several heavy metal can seep to ground water system and contaminate ground water surrounding. Dangerous potency from seep to in ground water oftentimes not monitor because it’s frail monitoring system mining corporate that. At the Bangka and Belitung island many to see pits of ex mines tin which contain sour water mines and very dangerous.

SOUR WATERS MINES, sour water mines contain heavy metals have potentially evoking of environmental impact. While of sour water mines formed, very difficult to stopping because natural character from rock reaction, as example, timbale mining on Roman Empire still being produced sour water mines after 2000 years.

Sour water mines new formed of yearly, so if corporate mining do not long-term monitoring, the waste rocks will evoke sour water mines. Sour water mines have potentially surfaced and ground water contaminate. Once contaminate of water very difficult to handle action.

TAILING, tailing resulted of mining operation in mostly amount, 97 percent of ore processing by factory will be tailing. Tailing have heavy metals contain in worried compositions, as copper, timbale or black tin, mercury, zinc, and arsenic. When into human-life being, the heavy metals that will accumulate in body and dangerous effect for health.

It is bad lucky, there is no order in Indonesia that is mandatory to mining corporate to conducted mines closure process truly and responsibility. Mining agreement between government of Indonesia and corporate only mandatory to mining corporate reclamation conduct, in corporate thinking define that agreement is only tree planting.

Government of Aceh having Lesson learn from cases and mining figures at the others site in handle expand mining regime was came to Aceh. Mining investment must not looked from economics perspective with ignore environmental problem in long-term. Lesson learn from many cases mining at the poor site, prosperity to people just illusion, added a legacy in long-term, named Environmental Pollution. []