To exercise control on Affi, the environmental group "Save the Elbe" bought one share of the company. One share in 36,000,000, worth US$ 10,  will not have much effect, though several shareholders supported us with their votes. Our aim was to raise public awareness, to urge Affi to make efforts to reach its self-declared "sustainable development".  A total of  740,000 tons of copper ore concentrate (equivalent 240,000 tons copper) were put into the furnaces at Hamburg in business year 1998/99, 16% (= 118,000 t of ore concentrate) stem from Papua New Guinea (PNG) , i.e. Ok-Tedi mine.

To extract pure ore, 120,000 tons of crushed dead rock, and 80,000 tons of polluted tailings are flushed into Ok-Tedi River each day. This has an impact to the whole Fly-River system , the Gulf of New Guinea, with outreaches to the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Tropical rainforest has died on a large area. Operation of the mine compliant to international environmental standards is not economically feasible because of climatic and geographic conditions. 

International pressure forced BHP, an Australian mining company, the main shareholder and operator of Ok-Tedi mine, to fund compensation measures for the environmental, social, and economical disadvantages of mining. This  BHP-Fund , however, is linked to the operation of the mine. Therefore, the closure of the mine will leave people with bare hands, and so will be desastrous to the local economy. People cannot return to their way of life, before the opening of the mine in 1984. Alternative means and structures to make a living have to be implemented. 

All those, that benefitted from Ok-Tedi mine, and tossed people into the present mess, are responsible to contribute to a future solution. 
 

Homepage "Save the Elbe"