Fed-up villagers to act against cyanide use

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | Aug 8, 07 10:34am

Tired of waiting for action, residents of Bukit Koman new village in Raub will sue the Pahang government if it renews a gold mining licence that allows the use of cyanide by the concessionaire.

Their anti-cyanide committee has been appealing to Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob and MCA leaders to take up their concerns and allay their anxiety, with no results to date.

Chairperson Wong Kin Hoong told malaysiakini that Adnan, at a meeting in March, had promised to bring in experts “soon” to assess whether cyanide use at the gold mine nearby could be harmful to human health.

The state government has issued a mining licence to Peninsular Gold which also allows the use of cyanide, but this is due to expire on Aug 21.

“If the state government renews the permit, the committee will definitely take the matter to court to seek justice,” Wong said.

“The Broga anti-incinerator case and others have shown us that those affected can obtain victory through the courts.”

The committee was formed last year to protest the use of cyanide in extracting gold from an old mining site beside the village.

It is estimated that about 2,000 villagers live in the affected area.

Construction of the RM60 million mine is expected to be completed within a year. The main processing plant will use carbon-in-leach technology to extract gold from tailings (remnants of mined deposits). The main chemical used in this process is cyanide.

MCA blames villagers

When contacted, MCA Tras assemblyperson Chan Choon Fah said party representatives have brought up the matter in the state assembly and are waiting for the menteri besar to make a final decision.

Chan admitted that the delay is due to the appointment of an expert and blamed the villagers for not proposing an independent candidate to conduct the evaluation.

“If state government appoints the expert, the villagers will think the (report) is biased and will not accept it. However, they haven’t found a suitable person either.”

Wong, however, denied this, claiming that the state government has not contacted the committee over the last five months.

“Whether we agree with the government’s appointment or not, they should at least contact us to discuss the choice,” he said.

“His (Chan) statement is illogical. As a state assemblyperson, he should approach us first, but until now, no discussion has been initiated by either MCA or the menteri besar,” he said.

Under the circumstances, Wong felt it best to let the federal government, state environment department and an independent chemistry expert to jointly conduct the environmental impact assessment, in the interests of neutrality.

When contacted yesterday, Adnan said he would issue a response by this afternoon after getting an update on the situation. However, in a SMS message received today, he refused to comment on the issue.

Signatures collected

In an earlier development, Pahang state exco Hoh Khai Mun had led Wong and other villagers on a study tour to another operating gold mine in Penjom last month, to get first-hand information on mining operations involving cyanide use.

The visit, which was intended to placate the villagers, backfired instead and only strengthened their determination to continue protesting the use of cyanide.

According to Wong, there were no signs of life in the vicinity of that gold mine (photo).

Wong also said the committee has collected more than 10,000 signatures to back their protest, including those of 10 committees from Chinese-based new villages nearby.

Over the past few months, the committee has written to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and MCA president Ong Ka Ting, seeking a meeting to submit the signatures and a memorandum.

There has been no reply to date.

Experts to check on cyanide use in gold mine

Bede Hong | Mar 2, 07 7:30pm

Over a cigar and several cups of coffee, Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob placated Bukit Koman residents with promises that experts would be brought in soon to assess whether cyanide usage in a nearby gold mine would harm them.

Adnan met representatives of the Bukit Koman anti-cyanide committee at the Raub rest house this afternoon for an hour and promised that an independent assessment would be carried out, but did not indicate when.

The village committee, formed last year, is protesting the use of cyanide by Peninsular Gold in extracting gold from an old mining site near Raub.

The MB met committee representatives after villagers protested at the official launching of the mine this morning.

Construction of the RM60 million mine is expected to be completed within a year. The main processing plant would use the carbon-in-leach (CIL) technology to extract gold from old mining deposits, also known as tailings. The main chemical used in the process is cyanide.

Present at the meeting were Tras assemblyperson (MCA) Chan Choon Fah, Peninsular Gold non-executive director Mohamed Moiz JM Ali Moiz, Raub district officer Abdul Kadir Abu Bakar as well as several members of the committee.

Reasonable requests

A memorandum was presented to Adnan during the meeting.

It contained demands for a detailed environment impact assessment (EIA) be carried out, that Peninsular Gold lists out the safety measures taken to ensure that cyanide does not leak, and to make public its cash reserve to prove it has enough money to clean up any spills.

“I will raise this matter in the next state meeting. The committee made reasonable requests. I will call the developer (Peninsular Gold) and the committee at a later date,” said Adnan.

“We are calling in experts, most likely from the academia and from abroad,” he told reporters later.

Committee members said they were satisfied with the meeting and are keeping their fingers crossed.

“We are happy. We will wait for the experts that the menteri besar promised. Our disagreement is with the cyanide usage, not the mining itself,” said its acting chairperson Wong Kin Hoong.

Earlier, some 200 villagers marched from a commercial lot to the mine’s entrance during an official launching this morning, which Adnan officiated.

They chanted “Tak mahu racun! Tak mahu cyanide! (We don’t want poison. We don’t want cyanide)” as vehicles headed into the mining compound.

Present at the launch were Peninsular Gold chairperson and chief executive Andrew Kam. Also present were Tengku Hajjah Nong Fatimah and Batu Talam assemblyperson Abd Aziz Kiram.

During his speech, Adnan expressed the state government’s full backing for the mine and that the mine would provide immediate job opportunities for about 200 people.

“The foreign investors who are here are assured that the construction of the mine will go ahead as planned,” he said.

Economic opportunities

At a press conference later, Kam assured that Peninsular Gold took every precaution to ensure the safety of residents.

He said in 1997, an EIA report stated that it was alright to use cyanide for mining if the process is carried out properly.

Kam said the residents were aware this. However, Wong disputed this later and said that the report did not mention anything about cyanide.

Meanwhile, Kam said the mine would bring economic opportunities to the area.

“This is a democratic country. Everybody has the right to voice their opinions, but they are the minority of the majority.

“The majority are looking for jobs, for food, for development and such. You have to look at the majority. You just cannot cater for the interest of a small group,” he added.

Commenting on the protest, he said: “What do the people know? Some of the people may not have been briefed properly. Some of the people don’t understand. They just talk about the cyanide.”

“In 2001, we won the national award for factory safety. We are very proud of our safety record. I don’t believe we intend to harm the community here,” he stressed.

In a related development, Wong said they have collected 6,000 signatures for their campaign protest the use of cyanide. The committee’s aims to obtain 10,000 signatures before making their case to the Prime Minister’s Department.

Bukit Koman folk stage protest

Tuesday February 13, 2007 - The Star By SIMON KHOO

RAUB: A group of residents in Bukit Koman renewed their protest against the move by a local joint-venture company to extract gold from the mines here using cyanide.

The group comprising about 70 residents staged a protest outside the company here recently.

The spokesman for the group Wong Kin Hoong said some 3,000 residents in Bukit Koman would be directly affected as their houses were located about 300m from the mining site.

He said in June last year, they had held several discussions with Raub MP Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen and Teras assemblyman Datuk Chan Chong Fah.

One voice: Residents staging a demonstration against using cyanide in gold mining activities in Bukit Koman recently.

“We hope the matter will not be swept under the carpet as our health is at stake.

“All in, over 50,000 people residing in Raub district will be at risk if the firm extracts gold using cyanide,” he said.

Cyanide is an extremely harmful chemical substance and may result in premature death.

Those exposed to the chemical may develop headache, nausea, dyspnoea (breathing difficulty), confusion, seizures, coma and cardiovascular collapse.

Wong said based on information he received, the company had been given approval
to use the substance by the state Environment Department (DOE).

“If this information is correct, we hope the DOE will consider retracting the approval for the sake of the people.

Wong said several studies also revealed the wide usage of cyanide had caused considerable damage to the health of the people in Canada, Romania, Guyana, Kyrgyzstan and Papua New Guinea.

He urged the authorities to conduct a new Environment Impact Assessment on the viability of the project and its mining activities.

“Let us stress that we are not against gold mining activities if it is being conducted using conventional methods.

“The old method is not harmful to humans and the environment but will bring out about 20% of yields as compared to some 80% using cyanide,” he elaborated.

Raub is synonymous with gold mining activities and has a history dating back some 200 years.

The company in question, Raub Australia Gold Mining Sdn Bhd, started operations in the 1890s and ceased work in 1960.

However, in the 1980s, the firm resumed its operations after making a substantial investment.

The firm’s top management could not be reached for comment.

Villagers want new EIA report for gold mine

Soon Li Tsin | Feb 8, 07 2:45pm

Villagers of Bukit Koman, Raub are shocked to find out that the approved project to mine gold in their area using cyanide was based on an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) conducted 10 years ago.

The residents’ action committee found out about this disturbing fact when Pahang Department of Environment sent a letter dated Jan 8 to environment watchdog Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM).

“The letter explained the mining project and gold processing of 300 acres on Bukit Koman by Raub Australian Mining Sdn Bhd was based on the EIA approved on Jan 13 1997.

“We are shocked because the EIA report made 10 years ago is based on completely different circumstances,”read the statement released yesterday.

The committee noted that in 1997, gold mining was done using gravity and chemical methods.

“Using cyanide is also very different from the use of gravity and chemicals and could potentially cause negative effects on the environment and the health of the villagers,” the statement said further.

Some 2,000 residents of Kampung Baru Bukit Koman have been questioning a state agency’s decision to allow the use of cyanide in a gold-mining operation in Bukit Koman since early this year.

The potential cyanide use in Bukit Koman was first discovered when letters of enquiry were exchanged between Pahang Mineral and Geoscience Department and SAM.

The correspondence revealed that the department had issued a letter of authority to the developer, Raub Australian Gold Mining dated Aug 21, 2006 permitting cyanide use to mine gold.

An estimated 70 percent of gold have been mined using gravity separation process. To extract the remaining gold, cyanide leaching, which involves using electrolysis, will be used.

The developer, a subsidiary of London-based Peninsular Gold Ltd, has been given the task to extract gold from tailings (waste material from previous mining) and oxide deposits.

It’s director Andrew Kam Tai Yeow could not be reached for comments.

Not available to public

The committee then said they had tried to acquire the 1997 EIA from both the Putrajaya and Pahang DOE offices.

“We have also gone to DOE in Putrajaya and called the DOE in Pahang in search of the EIA but both of them could not find that document,” it said.

Contacted, Azuri Azizah Saedon senior assistant director of Kuantan DOE said the document is not available to public. It can be acquired through a formal request to the director general.

The committee has also urged for the letter of authority to be retracted so to disallow any cyanide use in Bukit Koman.

Furthermore, the committee demands for a new EIA report be done.

“A new EIA must also be done. If possible, a detailed EIA should also be done to allow the public to provide feedback on this matter,” read the statement.

Fears of cyanide poisoning grips village

Bede Hong | Feb 1, 07 4:45pm

THEY live next to a gold mine. While many would rejoice at such a prospect, the villagers of Bukit Koman in Raub feel that it is more of a curse than a boon.

Why?

Because a mining company has set up shop in the tiny hamlet and proposes to use cyanide for the gold extraction process.

“We are not against mining. Miners are businessmen. They earn their living. But to use cyanide...,” fumed pensioner Hue Fui How, who has been living in the village all his life.

Hue’s concern is not without basis. Cyanide's toxity is legendary. Exposure to high levels of cyanide is harmful to the brain and heart, and is known to cause coma or death.

Residents of the Chinese-majority rural enclave near Raub, Pahang, who spoke to malaysiakini recently on the prospect of residing by a humdrum of mining activity, have started a petition in an effort to stop cyanide usage.

It is estimated that about 2,000 villagers live in the affected area.

Bukit Koman, located just outside the boundaries of the Batu Talam constituency, was the mining hotbed until the 1960s, when gold prices collapsed.

Miners then had used the placer mining technique, which while creating large amounts of silt, did not involve the use of cyanide. A lake has since formed at what remains of the site.

Raub Australian Gold Mining Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of London-based Peninsular Gold Ltd, has been given the task to extract gold from tailings (waste material from previous mining) and oxide deposits from the bottom of the lake.

An estimated 70 percent of gold have been mined using placer mining. To extract the remaining gold, cyanide leaching, which involves using electrolysis, will be used.

The company has obtained environmental and mine approvals, and barricades have since been set up around the lake, with guards cordoning off area.

Company officials could not be reached by malaysiakini for comments.

Wells connected to mines

In a written response last December to queries by environment watchdog Sahabat Alam Malaysia, the Pahang Mineral and Geoscience Department confirmed that a letter of authority to mine the area was approved in Aug 21 last year, and that the company was permitted to mine gold using cyanide.

The department found the methods to be used by the mining company as safe. Villagers however say the department’s assurance is not enough.

“This cyanide use is the last thing residents here want,” said Hue.

Since the closure of the original mine, the area, located just minutes away from Raub town, has been a tranquil locale. He said many homes of Kampung Bukit Koman are located near the banks of the lake.

“How can you grant a licence? They’re only two metres from the nearest house,” he added.

Including Taman Sentosa and Kampung Sg Lui, some 400 families reside in areas adjacent to the lake, from which the mining operations will take place.

Scattered through the area also are abandoned mining wells. The wells, part of the tunnelling efforts by previous miners, are interconnected and permeated with water.

Three of the wells run under the lake, while the rest are scattered near the district hospital, a school and both Kampung Bukit Koman and Kampung Sg Lui.

Villagers say that water wells, which are frequently used, share the same water source as the mining wells.

“If any cyanide found itself into the ground, it will seep into the water source. Cyanide is so toxic that micro-organism does not break it down. So it can make its way deep into the ground. Villagers might end up taking in the chemical,” said Gan Chew Yan, a postgraduate chemistry student who grew up in the area.

“Cyanide is extremely soluble in water and the effect long lasting. Any spill would mean an environmental disaster for the area,” she said.

Villagers have begun collecting signatures to be presented to the Prime Minister’s Department.

So far some 3,000 signatures have been collected, said the committee chairperson Voon Kim Soon. Voon said the committee is confident that it would get an additional 7,000 signatures.

He said the priority was to stop the use of cyanide, not the closure of the mine: “There are too many people living too near the lake where the mining will occur.”

Still awaiting reply

In an interview last September, with Australian business magazine Resourcestocks, Peninsular Gold director Andrew Kam Tai Yeow, said the processing plant is estimated to cost US$8-10 million.

The company expects a general cash flow of US$7.5 million from the Raub site annually. Operations is expected to begin late this year.

Andrew Kam’s father, Kam Woon Wah, had formerly served as MCA secretary general. His last post with the party was as the disciplinary board chairperson.

Kam could not be reached for comments.

Last week, the committee released a media statement, lamenting government approval was given without consulting local residents.

"We have been denied our rights because we weren’t given a chance to respond despite the fact that we’re the nearest residents to the project site,” the four-page statement reads.

“We urge the government to scrutinise the developer’s detailed Environmental Impact Assessment report in full and for this document to be released to residents and the public,” it continued.

According to villager Mustapha Hussin (left in pic)of Kampung Sg Lui, who serves as committee secretary, villagers had approached local MCA leaders to raise the issue to the Pahang state government.

The committee had also sent a letter appealing MCA deputy president Chan Kong Choy for help and is still awaiting reply, said Mustapha.

“My personal concern is the cyanide. It is a potent chemical. The Nazis used it when they had a go at the Jews in World War Two,” said Hue.

“Millions. Millions killed! Do you want us to end up as statistics?” he decried.