A Papua New Guinea national court has given the go-ahead for the Chinese state-majority owned Ramu nickel and cobalt project to proceed after lifting an interim injunction on its tailings disposal system.
Landowners in Madang province had been seeking a permanent injuntion placed on a marine disposal system for tailings from the Ramu mine.
The National Court last year ordered the temporary freeze on the Chinese Metallurgical Construction Group's plans to dump five million tonnes of slurry waste annually into Basamuk Bay.
Reuters reports that after 18 months of delays over environmental concerns, the Court ruling yesterday clears the path for the commissioning of the fully constructed 1.5 billion US dollar project.
A work order restriction issued by Papua New Guinea's Chief Inspector of Mines in early June has also been removed.
