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Article

16 Jun 2018

Author:
Jim Tan, Mongabay

Citigroup to limit financing for mines that dispose of tailings waste at sea; follows NGO campaign

"Citigroup limits financing for mines that dump tailings at sea", 12 June 2019

...Citigroup, a major shareholder in four mining companies that either actively dispose of mine waste into the ocean or propose to do so, agreed not to finance any new operations that pipe mine waste into the sea.

Citigroup’s move comes after pressure from an international coalition of NGOs that launched a campaign...to end the disposal of mine waste in natural water bodies.

...Citigroup revised its Environmental and Social Policy Framework to state: “Citi will not directly finance new mining projects…that utilize submarine waste disposal.”

...When mine tailings cause environmental damage, it is often local communities and indigenous groups that pay the highest price.

In PNG, tailings from the Tolukuma gold mine resulted in elevated levels of arsenic, lead and mercury in the drinking water and flooded croplands for communities downstream...anecdotal reports from local communities of increased illness and deaths after drinking and bathing in the river where the mine disposed of its tailings.

In both PNG and Norway, local community groups have been vocal in their opposition to the disposal of tailings at sea...

[also refers to Nordic Mining, Nussir]