Rehab programme underway in Fiji's bauxite mining areas

The Fiji Government is monitoring the rehabilitation work at bauxite mining sites in the North as outlined by XINFA Mining in their rehabilitation plan. The programme is to be continued until the site is fully rehabilitated, Director Mineral Resources Raijeli Taga said in an official update.

Ms Taga said the rehab work was being closely monitored to ensure the conditions set out by the department were being followed. She added, so far, the programme had been carried out well with 120,000 pine trees planted on the Nawailevu South post bauxite mining site.

"This rehabilitation work is closely monitored by the department so that it is according to the conditions of rehabilitation given to the company. This monitoring will apply to all their mine sites," Ms Taga said.

Mrs Taga said they had also periodically monitored the global metal price movement. The monitoring, she said, was imperative given the diversity of minerals being explored for or mined in Fiji.

"This is to better understand the limitations and opportunities for mineral sector growth in Fiji and also be in a better position to understand issues faced by mineral exploration and mining companies in terms of fulfilling their obligation as expected by the department.

"Also the private sector is always encouraged to discuss issues affecting their exploration or mining operations with the department, issues including external factors such as metal price volatility."

Ms Taga's update is in line with what Aurum Exploration Ltd executive Derek Qiu had told about the rehab programme in an earlier press briefing. He said that the rehab programme which was being carried out at the post bauxite-mined sites had been a success till then with 50,000 pine trees already planted in the mining area with 150,000 more seedlings in nursery.

Aurum Exploration Ltd has not been able to carry out shipment of the 100,000 tonnes of bauxite worth $4 million for the past year due to a drop in global bauxite demand. Despite the swing in the global market lately, nothing much has changed for the company.