One of Vietnam’s first two bauxite mining and alumina extraction projects needs more input from environmental scientists before it can proceed while the other has been poorly planned, the environment minister has said.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment officials check bauxite samples at Nhan Co in Dak Nong Province last weekend.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen delivered his criticism last weekend while inspecting the Tan Rai and Nhan Co projects in Lam Dong Province and Dak Nong Province respectively.

The Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) is laying the foundations for the Tan Rai plant and clearing an area to dump the red mud left over after the alumina has been extracted from the bauxite ore.

It is also clearing the site for the Nhan Co plant and building resettlement areas for the displaced people.

Minister Nguyen said inspection teams would be formed to continually monitor the environment around the project sites.

The first team, for Tan Rai, will be set up this month, he said.

After inspecting the Tan Rai project and examining Vinacomin’s plan for treating the waste, Nguyen warned that while the plan was credible, there was a large gap between theory and practice.

He suggested that more seminars be held to hear from scientists about the safest way to treat the mine tailings.

He told Vinacomin to submit another environmental impact assessment if it wanted to get a mining license.

Vinacomin intends to clear 209 hectares at Tan Rai for dumping the tailings, which could be covered in soil for cultivating crops and constructing houses later on.

Impact on the locals

Vinacomin Chairman Doan Van Kien said the mining at Tan Rai would be done in lots of 70-100 hectares at a time, with each lot taking around two years.

He said Vinacomin had suggested to the Lam Dong Province government that the land be rented from the owners and returned to them once mining had finished and the red mud covered with a thick layer of fertile soil.

“We also plan to set up a center to study the resurfacing of the mining sites and find suitable trees for the residents to farm,” he said.

Le Quoc Trung, chief inspector of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, recommended the land be rented in stages as mining proceeded to minimize the impact on the land and people.

He said Lam Dong Province should also zone the Tan Rai area so that the land could be used effectively once mining had ended.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong warned Vinacomin that resurfacing the area with soil would be critical as it would affect more than 2,000 hectares of land and its inhabitants.

He warned that care would be needed as a new layer of soil could easily be swept away in the regular floods in the highlands.

Cuong went on to raise another obvious problem. “It is still unclear what the local residents will do for work in the two years waiting for the mining to end and the land to be reclaimed,” he said.

“Lam Dong Province and Vinacomin should formulate a clear plan for this.” lll-conceived

Minister Nguyen said the Nhan Co Alumina Joint Stock Company, the Vinacomin member undertaking the Nhan Co project, had much work to do before it could complete its environmental impact report.

He described the inspection as “very important” as its findings would greatly influence the government and the Politburo, the decision-making body of the Central Communist Party, in deciding whether to let the Nhan Co project continue or not.

“Many challenges remain,” he said.

Last month, the Politburo said bauxite mining in the Central Highlands would only proceed if it benefited the economy without damaging the environment.

Deputy Minister Cuong singled out for special mention the proposed area for dumping the tailings at Nhan Co as it would be in a valley and would not be “absolutely safe.”

Duong Van Hoa, chairman of Nhan Co Alumina JSC, said his company was drilling to survey the geology of the proposed dumpsite.

The alumina output of the Nhan Co project, which began life in late 2005, was originally put at 100,000 tons a year.

This failed to arouse any interest so the figure was raised to 300,000 tons with the prime minister’s blessing, Nhan Co Alumina JSC General Director Bui Quang Tien said.

Again there was no response so the proposed output was doubled to 600,000 tons of alumina per annum last May.

When Chinese Aluminum International Engineering Co. (Chalieco), which would be building the plant at Tan Rai, expressed interest in constructing the Nhan Co plant, Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai authorized Vinacomin to give the nod.

Tien said the environmental impact report for Nhan Co had been completed in January and submitted to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

In the meantime, the Dak Nong Department of Natural Resources and Environment has set up its own appraisal board to evaluate the report.

The board has asked Nhan Co Alumina JSC to explain how it would handle a doubling of the annual alumina output to 1.2 million tons later on, as mentioned in the environment impact report.

It also wants the company to look deeper into the geology beneath the proposed tailing dumpsite as a fault line runs through Dak Nong Province so earth tremors are a real possibility.

VietNamNet/TN/TT