XINFA plants pine seedlings for rehabilitation of Nawailevu Bauxite site

XINFA Aurum Exploration (Fiji) Ltd has so far planted 12,000 pine seedlings at the Nawailevu Bauxite Mining as part of its rehabilitation program.

In an interview yesterday, mine site manager Isireli Dagaga said their aim was to plant more than 35,000 seedlings at the 12-hectare land that had already been mined.

"We have so far planted 12,000 pine seedlings since last year and we aim to plant as many as we can to cover the areas that have already been mined," Mr Dagaga said.

"Some of the plants have died and we are replacing them. We sought assistance from the Fiji Pine Group of Companies and they have been helping us a lot with seedling, pine chips and saw dust that are used for soil fertility.

"Our timber yard in Savusavu is also supplementing the saw dust and pine chip supply for the site here in Nawailevu.

"We have some pine trees that have been growing here and we continue to prune and clean them.

"The rehabilitation program has been progressing well and we continue to monitor it very closely."

Mr Dagaga said rainy weather conditions continued to be a hindrance to their daily work.

"Rain is always a hindrance to our work.

"When it rains, mining work stops and this is when the drivers and some other workers joined the program to assist in planting the pine seedlings.

"We aim to plant more than 35,000 pine trees at this site and we are working towards achieving this."