HIDDEN VALLEY SERVICES LIMITED
All correspondence to: PO Box 4015, Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea
T: +675 472 1703 F: +675 472 1705
16 December 2010
The Hidden Valley Joint Venture welcomes the Member for Bulolo’s announcement today reaffirming the
constructive dialogue process jointly agreed and announced on 6 December 2010.
The Member today withdrew a writ lodged with the Lae register of the National Court of Papua New Guinea
for alleged nuisance relating to Hidden Valley mine related sediment. The writ had been lodged but not
served on the Joint Venturers.
The joint agreement, see attached, includes open sharing of information and the establishment of an expert
technical advisory group to provide independent review of sediment related issues and related community
concerns.
Hidden Valley Mine has a demonstrated track record of working with communities. A range of effective
environmental and community programs are in place and ongoing.
These include voluntary payments made to communities along the Watut River for flood damage to crops
and gardens, regardless of whether this was due to additional sediment run-off from mine construction
activity or by natural events such as landslips and heavy rain. The Joint Venture has provided written
assurance to the Member for Bulolo and his advisers that participating in the compensation process does
not in any way infringe on the rights of individuals to claim further compensation beyond that which has
already been paid. These compensation payments are nearing completion.
Importantly, at Hidden Valley Mine, all tailings from the processing of ore are stored permanently in an
engineered Tailings Storage Facility. No tailings are discharged from our site.
Hidden Valley Joint Venture places a high value on responsible environmental stewardship, and on the
relationship with our communities, and our 2000- strong workforce, most of whom are local people.
The Joint Venture remains committed to working with directly communities in a constructive and
expeditious manner.
Media inquiries:
David Wissink
Ph: (675) 472 1703 ext 243
Mobile: (675) 7100 2406
Fax: (675) 472 1705
Email:
david.wissink@morobejv.com
HIDDEN VALLEY JOINT VENTURE WELCOMES REAFFIRMATION OF CONSTRUCTIVE
DIALOGUE PROCESS