Sabeto villagers and residents living along the Sabeto River will be presented with an in-depth report of what transpired at the Tuvatu Gold Mine in which an unusually high level of copper seeped into the waterway killing small marine life.
Sabeto district spokesman Apisalome Saukuru said they met Lion One Metal officials on Tuesday at the Tuvatu Gold Mine where they called for an explanation.
“We wanted to know what exactly happened,” said Mr Saukuru.
“We had been noticing a change for a while and when this happened we went to them and asked them to be more responsible and think about the people that depend on the river.
“Now we want accountability and transparency.
“What they’ve assured us is they will do a more in-depth analysis to find out what happened.
“That report will be presented to us on June 9.”
Mr Saukuru said government officials from the Lands Department, the Nadi district office and the Commissioner Western’s office were also involved.
“There was a team from the Lands Department that came down yesterday and they took some samples to do their own study.
“Hopefully they will also come to us with what they find.”
In a statement on Monday, Lion One Metals chief operating officer Patrick Hickey confirmed contaminated water containing elevated copper levels was discharged from their pond last Thursday.
“Some fish species near the mine are especially vulnerable to copper,” Mr Hickey said.
He acknowledged the incident was caused by human error because of verbal miscommunication between the mill operations and environmental teams.
