(Reuters) – Newcrest Mining Ltd’s Cadia mine in Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) state is facing a fresh investigation over emission of dust and other pollutants, the state’s Environment Protection Authority said on Monday.
Cadia is Newcrest’s flagship goldmine in Australia and the investigation comes nine months after the country’s biggest listed gold miner was slapped with a maximum penalty of A$15,000 for dust pollution. Newcrest is currently the subject of a A$26.2 billion ($17.77 billion) takeover offer from Newmont Corp .
“The industry has strict obligations to meet clean air standards and currently Cadia appears to be falling well short of our expectations,” said NSW EPA Chief Executive Officer Tony Chappel.
“Last week, the EPA received new evidence from the community to suggest actions by the mine to reduce dust pollution have not been effective.”
“We take our environmental obligations and the concerns raised by some members of the local community seriously,” said Cadia General Manager (acting) Mick Dewar.
The EPA has also written to the NSW Chief Health Officer requesting a full health risk analysis to determine if mine dust is impacting the health of the community.
Cadia has until May 23 to respond to the EPA’s latest investigation.
($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
