HIDDEN VALLEY (MOROBE MINING JV)
Location
Morobe Province, 210 kilometres north-north-west of Port Moresby.
Latitude 7°28'26.88"S. Longitude 146°39'57.99"E.
Status
Being Developed
Type of Mine and Waste Disposal
The mine, when fully operational, will consist of two open pits located approximately 5 kilometres apart: the Hamata pit which will exploit the Hamata gold orebody, and the larger Hidden Valley pit which will exploit the Hidden Valley and Kaveroi gold and silver orebodies. The mine has an expected life of over 14 years and will process an estimated 4.2 million tonnes of ore annually. Mine waste is planned to be stored in tailings dams with surface drainage controls and water treatment. There will also be an overland pipe conveyor. The tailings storage facility (TSF) starter dam walls have been completed and this allows for sufficient storage capacity for the first 18 months of operation. As exploration continues and potential new resources are identified on the mining lease, the life of the process facility could be extended. The mine is located in a highly prospective exploration lease area and it is envisaged that, as active exploration continues, the mine could be fed from a number of sources.
Target Minerals
Gold, Silver
Current Production
The Hidden Valley mine is expected to produce around 255, 000 ounces of gold and 4 million ounces of silver.
Past Production
Not applicable.
Ownership and Finance
Morobe Mining Joint Venture (MMJV) is a 50:50 joint venture between Harmony Gold Mining Company and Newcrest Mining Limited. Newcrest is a major Australian-listed gold and copper mining company. There will be further exploration on the Morobe tenement holding encompassing both the Wafi-Golpu and Hidden Valley projects. This tenement package comprises 3276 square kilometres of tenure and is centred on the Morobe goldfields.
Environmental Impacts
The Hidden Valley Gold Mine is situated at the headwaters of the Watut River in the Bulolo District of the Morobe Province. Its operations have the potential to affect water quality of in the Watut River. In recent months, there has been a groundswell of complaints against MMJV citing heavy sedimentation up and down the Watut, damage to food gardens and tree crops, erosion, foreign material and siltation, by communities well beyond the established mine impact area. There is significant evidence of vegetation dieback on the Watut river banks and shallows.
Social Impacts:
The Watut River and its tributaries provide a significant number of communities with food (fish, crustaceans, tortoise and water birds). Water both for drinking and washing and is taken from the river. The river is also used for recreation, both hunting and playing and for relief when it is hot. The river is also used for transport and for alluvial mining through which communities supplement their income Local communities claim that each of these have been compromised in one way or another and to varying degrees along the length of the Watut River. Silting all has affected alluvial mining. Small stakeholders claim that the excessive sediment levels affect the course of water channels and bury the alluvial material making it harder to mine.