Tedi Mine Research Articles

Environmental compliance assessment for the desulfurization of sulfide mine waste tailings: A case study of Ok Tedi Mine, Papua New Guinea

The effective management of sulfide mine waste tailings is a complex task because of the potential for acid rock drainage to harm aquatic ecosystems. Although previous research has explored the environmental consequences of sulfide mine waste tailings and the potential advantages of desulfurization method, there is a lack of studies examining the environmental compliance of desulfurization efforts. To bridge this knowledge gap, a study was conducted at the Ok Ted Mine to evaluate the environmental compliance of the implemented desulfurization process. Ninety samples of sulfide tailing, desulfurized tailing, and sulfide concentrate were collected and analyzed for geochemical and physical properties. The acid-generating capacities were assessed using the Sobek's static test, whereas the particle size, pH, and recovery were evaluated for the overall performance of the desulfurization process. These findings indicated that the desulfurization process significantly reduced the acid-generating capacity and heavy metal concentrations of the sulfide tailings below the regulatory threshold levels. Therefore, the desulfurization approach employed at the Ok Ted Mine comply with the environmental regulaotry requirments. For further assessment, a study is recommended to evaluate the impact of desulfurization on the ecosystem to predict full extent of biodiversity recovery after mine life.

Probabilistic risk assessment of mine-derived copper in the Ok Tedi/Fly River, Papua New Guinea

The Ok Tedi mine discharges waste rock and tailings into the Ok Tedi River in Papua New Guinea. This has resulted in elevated copper concentrations throughout the Ok Tedi/Fly River system, which can potentially impact aquatic biota. Ten years of measured copper and toxicity monitoring data were used to assess the risk of chronic effects from the mine-derived copper. Cumulative probability plots of dissolved and labile copper were compared to a species sensitivity distribution (SSD) of published copper toxicity data for four regions of the river. The Cu-SSD was used to estimate the risk of chronic effects to aquatic organisms in the Ok Tedi/Fly River at a range of potential copper exposure scenarios. The risk to species at the median labile copper concentration for each region showed a gradient effect with distance downstream from the mine and only the most sensitive (0.2–11%) species were at risk. There were copper exceedances of the region-specific guideline values (GV) and default guideline value (DGV) 88% and 74% of the time, respectively, in the Ok Tedi region (closest to the mine) and this is considered a high risk of chronic effects. Measured copper concentrations in the middle Fly River, lower Fly River (farthest downstream of the mine) and the river at Kiunga (reference site) exceeded the region-specific GVs and DGVs less frequently to rarely and present a lower risk of chronic effects from copper. The risk was supported using toxicity tests with the local microalgal species Chlorella sp. Comparison of recent (2010−2020) and historical (1996–2004) copper monitoring data from the Ok Tedi/Fly River indicates a decrease in the labile copper concentrations (30–76%) at key sites from impacted regions and a subsequent decrease in risk. This coincides with improved mining practices aimed at reducing the copper load into the Ok Tedi/Fly River.

Monitoring and risk-control of large-scale toppling failures - a case study from Ok Tedi

This paper presents the monitoring and management of a large-scale toppling failure that was first observed in 2005 at the Ok Tedi mine. Ok Tedi is a large open-cut copper gold mine in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea and is one of the wettest mines in the world (>10 m annual rainfall). The management of large-scale failures in open-pit mines expresses geotechnical challenges in terms of balancing economical designs and safe operations. The failure located at the southern end of the West Wall was reactivated in June 2019 due to continuous mining and prolonged rainfall events. Erosion, cracking, and rock toppling associated with lateral displacements, evolved rapidly. Hence, ground control and groundwater management plans, including a Trigger Action Response Plan (TARP) and measurements to monitor movement across the wall, were implemented. This monitoring system, associated with daily visual inspections, enhanced the understanding of the necessary controls to maintain a safe mining operation. Furthermore, the water management plan was crucial in managing this failure. The successful risk-control of this large-scale toppling failure at Ok Tedi ensured continuous mining with a functional balance between economic and safety during operations.

Rapid Formation of Porphyry and Skarn Copper-Gold Mineralization in a Postsubduction Environment: Re-Os and U-Pb Geochronology of the Ok Tedi Mine, Papua New Guinea

Abstract The Ok Tedi copper-gold mine in Western Province, Papua New Guinea, is situated in the western part of the Ok Tedi Complex where monzodiorite to quartz monzonite intrusions are associated with porphyry- and skarn-style copper-gold mineralization. The Pleistocene age of the intrusive rocks and mineralization provides an opportunity to study the longevity of the magmatic and hydrothermal evolution at Ok Tedi through U-Pb dating of zircon and high-precision Re-Os dating of molybdenite. Six main phases of intrusive rocks can be recognized within the mine area, with the sequence of intrusion indicated by contact relationships. Each has been dated by the SHRIMP U-Pb technique with correction for Th-U disequilibrium based on the U and Th content of each sample. In order of intrusion from oldest to youngest these include: Sydney Monzodiorite (1.368 ± 0.045 Ma), Warsaw Monzodiorite (1.269 ± 0.039 Ma), Kalgoorlie Monzodiorite (1.261 ± 0.050 Ma), Ningi Quartz Monzonite Porphyry (QMP)(1.229 ± 0.051 Ma), Bonn Quartz Monzonite (1.219 ± 0.040 Ma), and Fubilan QMP (1.213 ± 0.049 Ma). The intrusions are alkaline, high K to shoshonitic rocks with high Sr/Y ratios typical of Cu-fertile arc magmas. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns have minor or no negative Eu anomalies and downward sloping to listric-shaped HREE patterns typical of arc magmas in which high water contents supress plagioclase fractionation in favor of an evolution by hornblende ± garnet ± titanite fractionation. Cu-Au mineralization at Ok Tedi can be divided into four main stages based on crosscutting relationships: (1) skarn-endoskarn and associated vein-style mineralization in the Darai Limestone, Ieru siltstone, and Sydney Monzodiorite; (2) porphyry-style veins and breccias within the Ningi QMP and older intrusions, and at Siltstone Ridge: (3) porphyry-style veins and breccias in the Fubilan QMP and older intrusions: and (4) skarn-style mineralization in the lower part of the Darai Limestone along the Taranaki thrust. High-precision Re-Os dating of molybdenite has enabled a chronology to be established for the first three stages. Molybdenite from a quartz-mushketovite-epidote-carbonate-pyrite-chalcopyrite-molybdenite vein in clinopyroxene- and garnet-altered Sydney Monzodiorite has an age of 1.3206 ± 0.0020 Ma, and this dates the formation of the Gold Coast and Berlin skarns. Molybdenite from a quartz-pyrite-chalcopyrite-molybdenite vein in the sericite-altered Sydney Monzodiorite yields an age of 1.3166 ± 0.0043 Ma, and a quartz-pyrite-chalcopyrite-molybdenite vein with K-feldspar alteration selvages hosted in Ieru siltstone beneath the Gold Coast skarn has an age of 1.3031 ± 0.0015 Ma. Samples of molybdenite from quartz-sulfide veins from Siltstone Ridge have ages of 1.2116 ± 0.0029 and 1.2078 ± 0.0031 Ma. Molybdenite from a quartz-K-feldspar-pyrite-molybdenite vein, which overprints propylitic alteration in the Sydney Monzodiorite, has an age of 1.2120 ± 0.0024 Ma. These samples date porphyry-style mineralization in and around the Ningi QMP and at Siltstone Ridge. A sample of molybdenite from the matrix of hydrothermal intrusive breccia in the Fubilan QMP has an age of 1.2146 ± 0.0020 Ma, similar to the age of the adjacent Siltstone Ridge mineralization, and is interpreted to have been mechanically incorporated into the breccia during its formation. Several samples have been dated from the Fubilan porphyry system, including molybdenite from the matrix of a hydrothermal intrusive breccia (1.1648 ± 0.0020 Ma) and three samples from veins which postdate the breccias: a vuggy quartz-sulfide vein (1.1532 ± 0.0027 Ma), chalcopyrite-pyrite-molybdenite vein (1.1446 ± 0.0028 Ma), and duplicate analyses of a molybdenite-only vein (1.1326 ± 0.0034 and 1.1297 ± 0.0026 Ma) in agreement at 2σ. Molybdenite from a quartz-K-feldspar-biotite-magnetite-pyrite-chalcopyrite-molybdenite vein in endoskarn-altered Sydney Monzodiorite (beneath the Gold Coast skarn) has an age of 1.1459 ± 0.0012 Ma, and a similar vein without magnetite hosted in Warsaw Monzodiorite has an age of 1.1438 ± 0.0042 Ma, both within error of the chalcopyrite-pyrite-molybdenite vein in Fubilan QMP. Intrusive rocks in the Ok Tedi mine were emplaced over a period of approximately 200,000 years, with Cu-Au mineralization formed in discrete episodes of much shorter duration. The Gold Coast skarn and associated porphyry-style veins in Sydney Monzodiorite and Ieru siltstone formed in 14,000 to 21,000 years (n = 3), the Siltstone Ridge porphyry system in 2,000 to 12,000 years (n = 4), and the Fubilan porphyry system in 31,000 to 40,000 years (n = 6). The Taranaki skarn has not been dated in the mine area due to a lack of molybdenite, but geologic relationships indicate it is younger than the Fubilan QMP.

Asymmetrical Development across Transboundary Regions: The Case of the Torres Strait Treaty Region (Australia and Papua New Guinea)

While there is much theoretical study of the evolution of border disparities, there is little empirical analysis of development asymmetries across border regions, and their causes or solutions. Often disparities among countries hinder the ability of transboundary agreements and other development initiatives to generate sustainable development. This study quantifies development progress amongst communities in Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) covered by the Torres Strait Treaty, 26 years after its inception. Using regional census data from 2011 we found contrasting patterns of human development, with markedly poorer education levels in PNG. This asymmetry was confirmed by a Human Development Index of 0.735 for the Torres Strait and 0.270 for the neighbouring province in PNG. From a survey of 1089 PNG households in 2012–2013 we calculated that 63% of people in the villages were multidimensional poor, and 28% were ‘vulnerable to poverty’. Poverty was positively correlated with poor health, which has implications for the control of tuberculosis in the region. While Treaty provisions may have reduced poverty amongst some PNG villages closest to Australian communities, development initiatives by Ok Tedi mine in compensation for its environmental impacts have not. Our study highlights the causes of the sustainable development gap between PNG and Australian communities, and the necessity for transboundary agreements and institutions to have the capacity to adapt to their unintended consequences and rapid global change.

Despite our best intentions: Papua New Guinea’s Ok Tedi mine and the limits of expert advice

Rarely has a developing-country government been better prepared to negotiate with foreign investors than was the new government in Papua New Guinea in the mid-1970s as it prepared top deal with the huge Bougainville and Ok Tedi mining projects. Advised by an array of experts from around the world, including Marian Radetzki, we attained terms that were in many ways a model. But, as subsequent events showed, not everything can be anticipated, even with the best advice. While the Ok Tedi mine has largely been an economic success, its environmental and social effects have not been so benevolent. This article reviews those economic, environmental, and social effects and considers the impact that expert advice can have.

A Comparison of Traditional, Step-Path, and Geostatistical Techniques in the Stability Analysis of a Large Open Pit

With the increased drive towards deeper and more complex mine designs, geotechnical engineers are often forced to reconsider traditional deterministic design techniques in favour of probabilistic methods. These alternative techniques allow for the direct quantification of uncertainties within a risk and/or decision analysis framework. However, conventional probabilistic practices typically discretize geological materials into discrete, homogeneous domains, with attributes defined by spatially constant random variables, despite the fact that geological media display inherent heterogeneous spatial characteristics. This research directly simulates this phenomenon using a geostatistical approach, known as sequential Gaussian simulation. The method utilizes the variogram which imposes a degree of controlled spatial heterogeneity on the system. Simulations are constrained using data from the Ok Tedi mine site in Papua New Guinea and designed to randomly vary the geological strength index and uniaxial compressive strength using Monte Carlo techniques. Results suggest that conventional probabilistic techniques have a fundamental limitation compared to geostatistical approaches, as they fail to account for the spatial dependencies inherent to geotechnical datasets. This can result in erroneous model predictions, which are overly conservative when compared to the geostatistical results.

The Garden and Beyond: the Dry Season, the Ok Tedi Shutdown, and the Footprint of the 2015 El Niño Drought

This paper offers a snapshot of the 2015 El Nino drought among Min people in Papua New Guinea's West Sepik and Western Provinces. Local assessments of food, water, and health show variation between locations, but with an overall tendency for the drought's effects to spread from lower to higher elevations as the drought progresses. This zone is in the hinterland of the Ok Tedi Mine, and the drought's regional impact was intensified by Ok Tedi's abrupt closure when low water in the Fly River stopped shipments of concentrate and cut off fuel and food supplies. The decision to close the mine was accompanied by the mandatory ‘repatriation’ of workers and their families to ‘home’ communities in the drought-stricken hinterland. This, combined with deteriorating regional links, has eroded the capacity of Min communities to weather the drought, suggesting that we must look beyond the garden when calculating El Nino's costs.

Post-mortem as preventative medicine in Papua New Guinea: a case in point

Sorcery-related killing and violence has increased in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in recent years. The international community has condemned the violence and a number of non-government organisations have called for action; however, effective and appropriate interventions at a community level remain elusive. It has been suggested within some communities and in the literature that post-mortems may help to reduce fears of sorcery and associated violence by providing an alternative biomedical explanation of death. Evidence to support this proposal, however, is limited. In 2012 the author was working in Ok Tedi Hospital, Tabubil, a remote mining town in the Star Mountains of PNG. The area is notable for a recent rise in sorcery-related violence and murders since 2009. In March 2012 a family from a nearby village requested a post-mortem following a relative's sudden death. They clearly stated that violence and killings against suspected perpetrators of sorcery had occurred due to a similar sudden death only a year before. As such they were concerned that the nature of their relative's death would rouse suspicions of sorcery and result in violence. The family hoped that a medical explanation of their relative's death would prevent rumours of sorcery developing and reduce the risk of violence against suspected perpetrators of sorcery. The post-mortem, led by a consultant surgeon and performed in Ok Tedi Hospital, Tabubil, concluded that death was due to complications from an acute myocardial infarction. As requested these results were presented at the funeral to a congregation of approximately 80 people. Following the funeral presentation the author received feedback that fears of sorcery had been alleviated and during a 2-week follow-up period no related violence against suspected perpetrators of sorcery was observed. This case is a unique and intriguing example of biomedical and sociocultural integration in the Highlands of PNG. The presence of Ok Tedi Mine, which has provided wealth, education, transport and medical resources to the area for over 30 years, no doubt can partly explain the family's actions. For the family, however, a recent increase in sorcery-related violence would appear to be the primary reason for requesting a post-mortem. Whether these actions reduced suspicions of sorcery and the risk of subsequent violence as the family had anticipated is unclear. However, given a recent rise in post-mortem requests from regions of PNG with some of the highest rates of sorcery-related killings it seems prudent to further investigate the role of post-mortems in the prevention of sorcery-related violence and killings.

Mining narratives and multiple geographies in Papua New Guinea: Ok Tedi, the emerald cave and Lost Tribes

Mining in Papua New Guinea has been accompanied by an efflorescence of origin tales that often serve as justifications for local claims to land rights or benefits arising from specific projects. While many of these narratives or myths have a clear instrumental function, there are many other elements of these tales that cannot be accounted for in these terms. In this article the author describes a recent origin story that emerged around the Ok Tedi mine, and places it in the context of traditional mythology, a changing system of regional relations, and circulating evangelical discourses. He argues that the story is best interpreted as an attempt to articulate a local position in relation to multiple geographies in which mining and Christianity are linked across scales ranging from the regional to the global.

An analysis of factors leading to the establishment of a social licence to operate in the mining industry

Communities around the world have increasingly come to demand more involvement in decision making for local mining projects, a greater share of benefits from them if they are to proceed, and assurances that mineral development will be conducted safely and responsibly. At the same time, Bridge (2004) notes full legal compliance with state environmental regulations has become an increasingly insufficient means of satisfying society's expectations with regards to mining issues. There is now a recognised need for mineral developers to gain an additional ‘social licence to operate’ (SLO) in order to avoid potentially costly conflict and exposure to business risks. However, there is a correspondingly limited amount of scholarship specifically focused on SLO. More particularly, there is a need for research that uncovers those factors that lead to the issuance (or non-issuance) of a SLO in the complex and changeable environments that often characterise mineral development. In an effort to identify key determinants of SLO outcomes in the mining industry, this paper presents a comparative case study analysis of four international mining operations: Red Dog Mine in Alaska, USA; Minto Mine in Yukon, Canada; the proposed Tambogrande Mine in Peru; and the Ok Tedi Mine in Papua New Guinea. The analysis that is presented also makes use of insights from supplementary key informant interviews conducted by the author and the emerging literature on mining and communities. Five lessons for earning a SLO emerged from this analysis: (1) context is key; (2) a social licence to operate is built on relationships; (3) sustainability is a dominant concern for communities; (4) local benefits provision and public participation play a crucial role; and (5) adaptability is needed to confront complexity.

Community development in Ok Tedi, Papua New Guinea: the role of anthropology in the extractive industries

Expansion of the extractive industries over the past few decades has been dominated by intensified sustainable development discourse within the sector and subsequent community development programmes. Yet, despite the social nature and impact of interventions, the role played by various indigenous actors in the way contemporary discourses and practices of extractive industry are perceived and integrated remains largely ignored in policy development. Whilst recommendations by economists and political scientists dominate policy discourse, the capitalist principles of individualism, entrepreneurship, private property and the independent pursuits of wealth they employ not only conflict with the rural landscapes in which they are applied, but also with the discourse of 'communality' and 'community' that shapes corporate agendas. As such, development programmes are often inappropriate and ill-conceived. In this article, I show how anthropological data can shed light on the negative social impact of current development models. Using Papua New Guinea's Ok Tedi mine as a case study, I advance the argument that a comprehensive understanding of the diverse cultural nuances activated by cultural actors with varied access to the opportunities provided by extractive industry should be implicit in the design of community development programmes. I call for more interdisciplinary research to inform policy and action.

Mining and stakeholder engagement discourse in a Papua New Guinea mine

AbstractIn recent history, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become synonymous with large business organizations' philanthropic contributions to society. Obviously in the mining industry, because of the nature of its activities in affecting both environment and people, the demand for this voluntary activity from multinational mining companies (MNMCs) by society has become inevitable. This function of CSR had been achieved through the utilization of community engagement discourse with external communities. The main purpose, amongst others, of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Ok Tedi mine's community engagement discourse in responding to local community development demands in compensation for adverse environmental impact in its riverine area. It will highlight the critical significance of community engagement discourse as a prime mover in facilitating the achievement of corporate social responsible development projects or lack of it pertaining to a group of mine‐affected riverine local community in PNG. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Jumping Fish: Engendering Contestation and Development on the Waterways of the Aramia River in Papua New Guinea

ABSTRACT Set in the Aramia River basin, this article explores the intimate and interactive relationship between communities in Western Province, Papua New Guinea, and the water that dominates the environment in which they live. Located amongst tidal rivers, creeks and lagoons, Gogodala villages sit high on ‘islands’ of land. In this environment, water is the site of seasonal change and the space of movement. The Aramia River is synonymous with an ancestral figure called Sawiya who travelled in her canoe, naming, creating and populating the water and land of the area. As the ‘mother of all fish’, Sawiya controls the movement and abundance of fish and other aquatic resources. Water is embodied in Sawiya, whose capacities to both nourish and punish are the basis of seasonal variations in fish, and in the colour and clarity of water in the local lagoons and rivers. Set against the backdrop of the Ok Tedi Mine and recent logging operations on the Aramia, the article explores some of the ways in which water and its resources are defined and experienced in this rural community and the impact this may have on the exploitation and development of natural resources in PNG.

«If you don’t believe our story, at least give us half of the money»: Claiming Ownership of the Ok Tedi Mine, PNG

Reports of poor crops, bad tasting water and stories of an ancestral connection with the Mt. Fubilan minesite at Ok Tedi have been reported by people in the Ningerum area since early 1984. In September 2000, a new generation presented a petition on behalf of the West Ningerum Pressure Association. The document had very carefully screened out any traces of customary explanation, and presented the case as if a manifest of poor crops, unfruitful trees, poor water, sparse river life, dried out foliage, and rocks now slippery with moss were the measurable effects of the mine wastes believed to be entering their river systems from underground. It also left out any trace of a tunnel used by spirits and the people who would trade with them and by which fecund water or blessings would flow into the landscape, and left out any trace of the second phase of claiming ownership over the entire mine deposit. This paper analyses these events in terms of regional concerns with revelation and concealment – as if a claim must necessarily comprise both as halves to an equation – and looks at how these concerns are presented in ownership negotiations which depend on eliciting sympathy and recognition of a claim, rather than putting demands into words.

Indigenous movements and the risks of counterglobalization: Tracking the campaign against Papua New Guinea's Ok Tedi mine

Many contemporary indigenous movements deploy strategies of counterglobalization that make innovative use of the architecture of globalization. This article examines an indigenous political movement that took legal action to gain compensation and limit the environmental impact of the Ok Tedi copper and gold mine in Papua New Guinea. Even though the campaign sought to balance the desire for economic benefits with the protection of local subsistence practices, its objectives were frequently misinterpreted. Indigenous movements that deviate from an antidevelopment position run the risk of being seen as greedy rather than green. Instead of reproducing allegories about the successful exercise of veto power over development projects, anthropologists need ethnographic accounts that analyze the complex ambitions of indigenous movements and the risks of particular strategies of counterglobalization.

Hinterland History: The Ok Tedi Mine and Its Cultural Consequences in Telefolmin

Much of the literature on mining in Papua New Guinea is concerned with the politics of landowner compensation. In the case of the Ok Tedi mine, attention has focused largely on claims for downstream ecological damage and the ensuing settlement on behalf of people living along the Lower Ok Tedi. Like all major mines, however, Ok Tedi has produced a series of large-scale ripple effects throughout the surrounding region, both downstream and upstream. In this article I explore two decades of mine-related transformations among Telefolmin, one of several groups of Min people who are a major source of labor for the Ok Tedi mine. I argue that Ok Tedi provides Telefolmin with the ability to realize a particular form of modernity. For Telefolmin, however, this modernity is rendered insecure by their hinterland status and the prospect of mine closure, sharpening fears that the Telefol experience of modernity may be a fleeting one.

Shifting Ecological Imaginaries in the Ok Tedi Mining Crisis in Papua New Guinea

Jusqu’a la fin des annees soixante-dix, les systemes de gestion de l’environnement par les proprietaires terriens de la haute riviere Ok Tedi en Papouasie Nouvelle- Guinee reposaient sur les possibilites d’acces et le controle des terres, des ressources et de l’eau. L’ecologie de subsistance des annees soixante-dix a fourni les elements d’analyse des savoirs traditionnels concernant l’environnement et les droits et usages des ressources. Le projet minier d’Ok Tedi a vu le jour au debut des annees quatre-vingt. La mine est un projet a visee globale et les voies d’eau ont ete soumises a rude epreuve au profit d’une gestion de l’environnement capitaliste et industrielle. Les proprietaires terriens de la region, vivant en economie d’autosubsistance a la peripherie de l’espace global, ont subi les affres de la transition complexe au capitalisme, face a des paysages ravages par l’industrialisation ; pour eux, ce fut une experience tout a fait nouvelle. L’ecologie politique des annees quatre-vingt a permis l’analyse de l’appropriation des ressources et de leur utilisation dans un systeme de production capitaliste. L’ecologie immorale de la mine a menace l’ecologie morale de subsistance et s’est jouee entre une vision globale versus locale des imaginaires de l’environnement equipes de differents pouvoirs et technologies. L’ecologie de liberation des annees quatre-vingt-dix nous renseigne sur les analyses du potentiel liberatoire d’un mouvement de resistance ecologique populaire apparu en reponse aux severes degradations de l’environnement dues a la mine et qui menacent les moyens d’existence de plus de 30 000 personnes vivant le long des rivieres Ok Tedi et Fly. Aujourd’hui encore, cette crise miniere, est caracterisee par des representations conflictuelles de l’environnement entre mineurs, proprietaires terriens et chercheurs en sciences sociales.

Response of barramundi, Lates calcarifer, populations in the Fly River, Papua New Guinea to mining, fishing and climate-related perturbation

Migrating barramundi (Perciformes : Centropomidae) spawners support a valuable artisanal fishery on the coast of south-western Papua New Guinea. This fishery declined dramatically during the 1990s shortly after the large Ok Tedi copper mine began in the headwaters of the large Fly River nearby. In order to understand the factors causing the decline, populations were sampled quarterly with gill-nets at over 20 sites throughout the Fly River from 1987 to 2001. Barramundi were most abundant in the middle and upper reaches of the Fly River. No evidence was found that output from the large Ok Tedi mine was negatively impacting on barramundi catch rates. However, the commercial fishery in the middle Fly River was found to have a negative impact on the weight of barramundi in monitoring catches in that region. Additionally, catch rates of juvenile barramundi (1 year olds) in the Fly River were negatively correlated with the amount of rainfall on the breeding grounds during the previous monsoon. This suggests that the reduced catch rates in the coastal commercial fishery in the late 1980s and early 1990s may have been affected by both the riverine commercial fishery and the El Niño (ENSO) that occurred at that time.

Failing the Reputation Management Test: The Case of BHP, the Big Australian

This paper explores the decline in the corporate reputation of the Australian company BHP (Broken Hill Propriety Ltd), ‘The Big Australian’, which occurred as a result of the company's involvement in the Ok Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea. We argue that the problems of BHP stemmed primarily from the inability of the company to recognize and respond to the changing societal expectations of companies which occurred during the period of the operation of the mine in the 1990s. These societal changes were evident in two media ities. The first was the general trend of increased media attention to business activities. The second media activity, which impacted on BHP specifically, was the reframing by the media of the activities of BHP from a ‘commercial success’ to an ‘environmental and social crisis’. BHP's corporate reputation suffered as a result of the media attention on the performance of a company relative to new expectations and norms of corporate social responsibility. We conclude that BHP needed to change its strategic direction from a narrow conceptualization of its corporate identity as ‘a mining company’ (‘The Big Australian’) to a broader view of itself as ‘a company that undertakes mining in relation to environmentally and socially complex interactions with land and people’.