RT Report
T1 Environmental Impact of Large-Scale Mining in Papua New Guinea: Mining Residue Disposal by the Ok Tedi Copper-Gold Mine
A1 Freie Universität Berlin, 
A1 Technische Universität Clausthal, 
A2 Hettler, Jörg
A2 Lehmann, Bernd
K1 climate change
K1 copper mine
K1 environmental impact assessment
K1 environmental monitoring
K1 floodplain
K1 freshwater biology
K1 geology
K1 geomorphology
K1 gold mine
K1 mining industry
K1 sedimentation
K1 water pollution
PB Freie Universität Berlin
SN 3-89582-019-9
YR 1995
FD 1995
LK https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/28885
UL https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/28885
NO The Ok Tedi copper-gold mine, located in the eastern part of the central mountain range of New Guinea, discharges daily approximately 80,000 tons of ore processing residues and a similar volume of waste rock and overburden into the headwaters of the Ok Tedi River. The Mount Fubilan orebody, which is the source of heavy metal-rich sediments de-posited along the Ok Tedi and on the Fly River floodplain, contains a suite of base metals, of which copper is of pri-mary environmental concern. The Ok Tedi flows into the Fly River 200 km downstream of the discharge point, where the mining wastes carried as suspended load are diluted. In the present study, the deposition of mine-derived sediments in the lower part of the Middle Fly River floodplain, and the hydrochemistry and potential mobilization of trace metals, particularly copper, in the alluvial plain was investigated. To this end, a total of 156 sediment cores and sur-face sediment samples and 117 water samples from the upper Ok Tedi and the Middle and Lower Fly River floodplain were taken. The suspended matter content in Middle Fly River water today is about 5-10 times higher than the natural background of about 60 mg/l.
NO IntroductionGeological and Geographical SettingThe Ok Tedi Mining ProjectMining Residue DisposalSampling and Analytical MethodsResultsEnvironmental Impact AssessmentDiscussionConclusionsReferencesAppendix / Analytical Data
DS UN Environment Document Repository
RD Sep 18, 2026