| Location and
Climate
|
|||||
| Western
Province
Although the Western Province is the largest in land mass, it is a sparsely populated area of PNG. The main administration and mining township of Tabubil is situated about 20 km south east of the mine. An excellent all weather road links the mine with Tabubil and connects the Fly River port of Kiunga, 137 km south, the main gateway to the Ok Tedi area. The Fly River is the primary mine supply and copper concentrate transport route. It empties into the Gulf of Papua where a concentrate silo ship is moored. Climate In Tabubil, temperatures range from a mean at night of 20 degrees centigrade to a daytime average of 27 degrees. Extremes of 12 and 39 degrees have been recorded. Rain falls, on average, 339 days each year and totals 8,000 mm, making the area one of the wettest places on earth. |
Ok Tedi Mine The Ok Tedi project area is located 18 km east of the PNG-Indonesia border, on the southernmost extremity of the Star Mountains Range, which is situated on the northwest edge of the Western Province. Sitting roughly equidistant from the north and south coastlines, Ok Tedi lies 210 km directly west of the Porgera gold mine. The headwaters of the Fly River system are also in the Star Mountains. The mining activities centre on Mt Fubilan, a pre-mining elevation of 2,095 metres, in a high rainfall area characterised by vertical cliffs and densetropical rainforest. The ore treatment facilities are based at Folomian at an elevation of 1,630 metres. Mt Fubilan has now been reduced by over 300 m and the processing plant is fed by conveyor belt from a crusher in the pit.
|
||||
The Ok Tedi Mine |
|||||
