Newmont Mining Corporation

Adapted from Beyondthemine.com

Newmont's PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara's (PTTNT) operation in Batu Hijau, Indonesia, has made great strides improving and preserving coral reef habitat in neighboring bays. Past fishing practices and natural causes severely degraded the reef over the years.

Newmont's former Minahasa mine located on the island of Sulawesi, now in closure, successfully implemented a similar program in waters around its operation to rebuild reef destroyed by illegal fishing practices using poison and explosives. Buyat Bay Book (PDF)

The man-made reefs consisting of hundreds of artificial reef balls - a mixture of sand, cement and small stones - were placed in Maluk, Benete and Jelenga bays. The reef balls replace coral reef damaged by fishing and create a habitat for aquatic life, thus enhancing the local ecosystems.

The reef balls accelerate the development and dispersion of natural coral reef, improve the habitat and increase population of marine biota such as fish, lobster, and hard and soft corals. It also helps increase the fish catch for local fishermen. The reef balls contribute to the colonization of marine animals, including feather star, nudi-branch, butterfly fish, striped catfish and surgeonfish.

Continuous monitoring of the emerging reefs ensures the project's success by guiding the placement of additional reef balls. This monitoring also provides valuable information to the marine scientists on reef development and practices.