Placer Dome under fire

Alternatives Journal, Wntr, 2004

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, provincial authorities and international NGOs are opposing mineral exploration by Vancouver-based gold-mining giant Placer Dome in Indonesia's oldest protected forest. Placer Dome and other foreign mining companies have been lobbying the Indonesian government to relax its prohibition on open-pit mining in protected forest areas. The Meratus Mountain forest in South Kalimantan (formerly Borneo) has enjoyed protected status since 1928. Critics say Placer's position contradicts its sustainability principles and its recent agreement, as a member of the International Council on Metals and Minerals, not to mine in World Heritage protected areas.

www.miningwatch.ca/issues/Meratus