Leading partner in the Namosi Joint Venture, Newcrest Mining insists the company prioritises sustainability and community benefit for their project areas, and has identified copper mining as a way forward for Fiji.
Newcrest Mining Lts’s general manager government & industry relations Chris Welberry said safety of community members and employees, stewardship of the environment, and providing ongoing opportunities for the countries they operate in were among their top priorities.
“We take our responsibility to the countries in which we operate very seriously,” he said, speaking at the Australia Fiji Business Forum in Syndey last week.
“We consider responsible mining to be partnership with both governments and communities in the areas in which we operate. It’s our view that because we are in an industry that is producing a non-renewable resource, that when we mine in a community and in a country, we should be not only generating benefit while we are there but ongoing benefit after we leave.”
While mining projects hold an unsavoury reputation in some circles, the Namosi Joint Venture in particular being opposed by some community leaders in the area due to claims of environmental damage, according to Mr Welberry the global energy transition to electrification will be mining intensive and Fiji has an opportunity to capitalize on their share of the growing market.
“An electric vehicle is going to require another 13.5 tonnes of mined material compared to a conventional vehicle and a vast majority of that is copper,” Mr Welberry said.
“That’s just one example, that’s an electric vehicle, but pretty much every element of the new energy structure is going to require copper as well. Whether that be power generation, transmission, and everything else in between, so we are really going to be entering an age of copper.”
According to an earlier Fiji Times article, community leaders of the area say they understand the benefits to the nation should the project be established, but past experiences with prospecting works in Namosi have made them apprehensive. Accepting the concerns of the community in terms of environmental impact, the company has reportedly altered their project plans in favour of a smaller footprint area and ongoing focus on community development.
“A few years ago, we looked at a very large-scale development that would have taken up a very large footprint area,” Welberry said.
“We’re looking now at a smaller scale development that minimises the footprint, minimises the environmental impact, and still manages to extract a significant amount of copper from the high-grade parts of the deposit. That work is ongoing.”
The company is also looking at new technologies and techniques to make use of lower grade deposits and is in discussion with Energy Fiji about sustainable methods of powering the mine.
“We’re not at a point yet where we have an identified viable project, but given the expected growth in demand for copper and the technology development that is going on, we expect in the next few years we’ll be in a position where we can identify such a project.”
