Ok Tedi mine

In August 1999 Ok Tedi Mining Ltd. (OTML), a subsidiary of BHP, announced that the environmental impacts of the Ok Tedi mine on the surrounding environment "would be far greater and more damaging than predicted." The company also announced that none of the solutions it has studied, to date, would adequately solve the mine's environmental problems.

BHP also admitted that, "From BHP's perspective as a shareholder, the easy conclusion to reach, with the benefit of these reports and 20/20 hindsight, is that the mine is not compatible with our environmental values and the company should never have become involved." 

Read more about the BHP statement. 

For an analysis of the history of the mine in the context of state-corporate crime see The killing of the Fly: State-corporate victimization in Papua New Guinea by Ainsley Harper and Mark Israel [pdf download below].

For a case study of the Riverine Tailings Disposal at Ok Tedi see the IIED paper Mining for the Future [pdf download below]