Cyclic Hotline
22nd Mar 2000, 21:48
Wednesday March 22 9:45 AM ET
Crews Try To Recover Cyanide
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) - Technicians hacked their way through jungle Wednesday to reach two tons of deadly sodium cyanide pellets that fell from a helicopter en route to a mine on this South Pacific island.
Fearing contamination, the National Disaster and Emergency Service late Tuesday issued a warning to people not to drink from rivers and streams in the area.
Australian mining company Dome Resources NL rushed a search team to the site Tuesday and found the boxes of cyanide pellets Wednesday just 500 yards from where they had set up their base camp.
The company will try to salvage any usable cyanide and neutralize whatever is left with ferrous sulfate, which was being flown to the site Wednesday, said Dome Resources managing director Michael Silver, speaking from Australia.
"We have to cut a new helicopter pad because it is very thick ground cover,'' Silver said.
"It's no excuse, but we have probably flown in almost 1000 tons of chemicals and this is the first time we have had this sort of an accident,'' he said.
The company said the two one-ton boxes dropped from a sling underneath a helicopter Tuesday at a spot about 53 miles north of the capital, Port Moresby, as the chemicals were being transported to Dome's Tolukuma gold mine. Cyanide is used for processing gold ore.
Officials expressed concern that someone would find the cyanide before cleanup specialists, or that the chemical could leech into waterways which feed villages downstream. No injuries have been reported in the accident.
Martin Mose, assistant director of disaster relief, said Wednesday that light rain was falling in the area, and that a nearby stream feeds into a larger river. The nearest village is six miles away.
Crews Try To Recover Cyanide
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) - Technicians hacked their way through jungle Wednesday to reach two tons of deadly sodium cyanide pellets that fell from a helicopter en route to a mine on this South Pacific island.
Fearing contamination, the National Disaster and Emergency Service late Tuesday issued a warning to people not to drink from rivers and streams in the area.
Australian mining company Dome Resources NL rushed a search team to the site Tuesday and found the boxes of cyanide pellets Wednesday just 500 yards from where they had set up their base camp.
The company will try to salvage any usable cyanide and neutralize whatever is left with ferrous sulfate, which was being flown to the site Wednesday, said Dome Resources managing director Michael Silver, speaking from Australia.
"We have to cut a new helicopter pad because it is very thick ground cover,'' Silver said.
"It's no excuse, but we have probably flown in almost 1000 tons of chemicals and this is the first time we have had this sort of an accident,'' he said.
The company said the two one-ton boxes dropped from a sling underneath a helicopter Tuesday at a spot about 53 miles north of the capital, Port Moresby, as the chemicals were being transported to Dome's Tolukuma gold mine. Cyanide is used for processing gold ore.
Officials expressed concern that someone would find the cyanide before cleanup specialists, or that the chemical could leech into waterways which feed villages downstream. No injuries have been reported in the accident.
Martin Mose, assistant director of disaster relief, said Wednesday that light rain was falling in the area, and that a nearby stream feeds into a larger river. The nearest village is six miles away.