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Martabe gold mine operator aims to rehabilitate 4.7 ha of land
The operator of the mining site, located in Batang Toru district in South Tapanuli, North Sumatra, aims to rehabilitate 4.7 hectares of mining sites this year by scattering seed balls of fast-growing plants.
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An aerial view of a processing facility at the Martabe gold mine in Batang Toru, North Sumatra. (Antara/Handout)
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he operator of the Martabe gold mine in Batang Toru district in South Tapanuli, North Sumatra, aims to rehabilitate 4.7 hectares of mining sites this year.
Workers of PT Agincourt Resources, which manages the mine, have begun scattering seed balls, small bundles of seeds, clay and soil or compost, to reforest the mining sites.
Mahyu Dharsono, the company’s environmental rehabilitation supervisor, said that the seed balls, which are 20 to 30 centimeters in diameter, contained seeds of fast-growing plants.
“The success rate of this method is about 80 percent,” Dharsono told The Jakarta Post.
He said that there was minimum human intervention in scattering the seed balls, which can also be thrown from helicopters.
The Martabe gold mine has obtained a 30-year production deal with the government. The mine, which began production in 2012, is expected to maintain operations until 2033.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry had previously approved the mining operator’s plan to rehabilitate 10.6 ha of operational sites and 0.28 ha of exploration sites from 2017 to 2021.
By 2021, the company had rehabilitated a total of 15.56 ha sites, planting a total of 9,734 seeds. Last year, the company continued, planting 4,605 seeds of 54 plants and fruiting trees, which included replanting seeds that failed to grow in the previous attempts.
Syaiful Anwar, the company’s environmental site support superintendent, said that the company was committed to the rehabilitation effort.
“Planting trees on mining sites is not magic, it takes around 10 years for it to succeed,” he said.
Separately, South Tapanuli Regent Dolly Putra Parlindungan Pasaribu said he appreciated the company’s effort to rehabilitate the sites.
“I hope the mining [operator] keeps its commitment,” he said.
Last month, the company, the Environment and Forestry Ministry and the Central Tapanuli regency administration held an event planting 30,000 mangrove seeds and releasing 20,000 shellfish across a coastal area of Pandan district.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry is planning to designate North Sumatra coastal areas as a reforestation location in an effort to reduce carbon emissions as well as to develop the local economy and maintain aquatic ecosystems. (dre)
