Mining Disaster in Romania – Archive Article
December 10, 2008

RADIO 2GB NEWS COMMENTARY BROADCAST ON FRIDAY MARCH 3rd 2000 ON RADIO 2GB’S “BRIAN WILSHIRE PROGRAMME” AT 9 PM, AND ON MARCH 5TH 2000 ON “SUNDAY NIGHT LIVE” AT 10.30 PM.

The mining incident in Romania has been called the worst European environmental tragedy since the Chernobyl nuclear reactor incident in 1986. The disaster is of importance to Australia because there is an Australian company involved.

Mining has always been a dangerous activity but there has been a recent tendency to overlook this. Humans have become used to the great advances in science and technology and so assume that there has been a reduction in risk in everyday activities. But the mining incident has been a reminder that mistakes can have a very bad on the impact on the environment.

Australian mining companies are well aware of their image problems. Australia is, after all, one of the world’s most important countries for mining – both within Australia and overseas.

Additionally, mining companies often work in remote areas where the environment is seen as “unspoilt”. They are also often the only industry in a region and therefore more subject to scrutiny.

Speaking at last week’s Corporate Environmental Reporting and Governance Conference, Dr Ian Gould of Normandy Mining Limited explained how the “Minerals Industry Code for Environmental Management” has been drawn up by the Minerals Council of Australia.

The Code is a set of principles aimed at improving environmental management by companies, such as their accepting environmental responsibility for all their actions, strengthening their relationships with the community, integrating environmental management into the way they work; and minimizing the environmental impact of their activities.

A company which agrees to the Code has to, among other things, implement these principles, produce an annual public environmental report, and have an annual Code Implementation Survey to assess that the principles are being carried out.

The Code was launched in 1996. More than 40 Australian companies are now committed to the Code. These companies collectively account for more than 80 per cent of Australia’s minerals output.

It is remarkable to get this many companies on agree on anything at all – such as is their diversity and competitive nature. It is all the more remarkable because the Code is a restriction on how those companies do their business.

The review by the United Nations Environment Programme of mining codes world wide said: “The most comprehensive mining industry code of practice to date has been developed by the Minerals Councils of Australia…it is the only national minerals industry code to date that calls for disclosure of environmental performance and independent audit.”

But getting back to the Australian company involved in the Romanian incident, Esmeralda Exploration is not a signatory to the Mining Code.

Therefore, governments should make sure that if they agree to have foreign mining companies operate on their territory, then the companies should have tough environmental regulations. In the case of Australian mining companies, they should be signatories to the Minerals Industry Code for Environmental Management.