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Events/Environment · 2002

BHP leaves Ok Tedi after river damage claims

Environment, February 2002 (suit filed 1994, settlement 1996), Papua New Guinea.

What happened

Landowners sued BHP in 1994 over mine waste in the Ok Tedi and Fly rivers. A 1996 settlement followed. In February 2002 BHP Billiton withdrew from the mine and moved its 52 percent stake to the PNG Sustainable Development Program.1,2

Why it matters

It links a miner's exit from a mine to claims over river damage.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Grasberg mine area: Wikidata inception date

    The Papua copper-gold mine is dated to 1972 in Wikidata.3

  2. Benguela Railway closes to Zairian traffic

    Political differences between Zaire and Angola shut the shortest route for Shaba exports.4,5

  3. Roros Mining Town inscribed

    UNESCO World Heritage listing event.6

  4. Panguna mine halted

    The closure became tied to the Bougainville conflict.7,8

  5. Northparkes block cave air blast

    Northparkes was the first block caving mine in Australia, and the Coroner's findings shaped how block caving is regulated there.9,10

  6. BHP leaves Ok Tedi after river damage claims

    It links a miner's exit from a mine to claims over river damage.1,2

  7. Copiapo mining accident (33 miners trapped)

    Copiapo mining accident (33 miners trapped). Wikidata records 0 deaths.11

  8. Mount Polley tailings dam breach

    The panel reported on 30 January 2015 and made recommendations to reduce the chance of tailings failures.12,13

Open the full timeline

Where next

Mines

Located inOk Tedi mineBHP Billiton left in February 2002 after landowners sued over mine waste in 1994.1

Events

ExamplesPanguna mine haltedAnother Papua New Guinea copper-gold mine ended an era: BHP left Ok Tedi in 2002.1

Sources

  1. BHP lawsuit re Papua New Guinea (Ok Tedi) Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
  2. Ok Tedi environmental disaster (item Q7081685), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Wikidata item Q119297 (Grasberg Mine)
  4. Zaire SNCZ Railway Project, Staff Appraisal Report 1986-ZR (25 April 1979) World Bank
  5. Wikidata item Q223914 (Lobito)
  6. Roros Mining Town and the Circumference UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  7. History: Panguna Mine Bougainville Copper Limited
  8. Panguna mine (item Q17060798), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. 1999 Northparkes Air Blast case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  10. Parkes (item Q605513), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  11. Wikidata item Q214790 (Copiapo mining accident (33 miners trapped))
  12. Final report media release (30 Jan 2015) and report PDF Mount Polley Independent Expert Engineering Investigation and Review Panel
  13. Mount Polley mine (item Q107703678), coordinate location P625 Wikidata

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Chiquicamata Mine, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); NASA's ASTER Shows Brazilian City After Dam Disaster, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)).