Plans to close up Mamut Copper Mine open pit: Masidi

Kota Kinabalu: The Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry and local experts are looking into the idea of filling the open pit at the former mining site at the Mamut Copper Mine in Ranau so that it will no longer stagnate acidic water."My Ministry will collaborate with local experts and technical departments (Mineral and Geoscience Department, Public Works Department, Drainage and Irrigation Department and Environment Protection Department) to overcome the problem," said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.

He said they were worried the wall of the open pit would break causing the acidic water to overflow and cause harm to the people.

However, according to him, the 20.6 million cubic metres of stagnant water in the open pit which contained Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) was not affected by the recent earthquake.

Masidi said this in reply to Sri Tanjong Assemblyman Chan Foong Hin during the question and answer session at the State Assembly sitting here, Tuesday.

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Currently, there is no special pool treatment to treat the AMD except a temporary settling pond where the overflow of water from the open pit would come into contact with the water from Sungai Mamut for melting process before entering the river system.

Masidi explained that based on the information received by the Mineral and Geoscience Department, the open pit was constructed according to mining engineering methods which took into account the seismic factor under the department's supervision.

"The wall of the open pit is made of granite stones known as granodiorite and serpentinit which are hard, firm and thick. Therefore, any earthquake incident below 8.0 on the Richter scale will not have any impact on the wall structure.

"Another thing is that the water pressure in the open pit is getting weak as it gets shallow from 100 metres to only about 80 metres," he explained.

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Acid mine drainage (AMD) or acid rock drainage, collectively called acid drainage (AD), is acidic water formed when certain sulphide minerals in rocks are exposed to oxidising conditions.

It is commonly thought to be associated with coal mining, however, it can also occur under natural conditions or where sulphides in geologic materials are encountered in metal mining, highway construction, and other deep excavations.

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