The company left in the late 1990s after strong opposition from the Mole Lake Chippewa and their neighbors. BHP has a horrendous mining track record. In particular, the company's Ok Tedi mine in Papua New Guinea has destroyed the local eco-system. According to the Mineral Policy Institute, the Ok Tedi River, its fish and the forest surrounding the river are dying. The river is bloated with milky-grey sediment and won't recover for generations.
Local people depend on the river for water, food and transport.
BHP, the major shareholder in the Ok Tedi mine, spent thousands on public relations activities as an Olympic sponsor but it will cost many more millions to restore the environment and create sustainable livelihoods for all the people of the Ok Tedi and Fly Rivers affected by the mine. In Australia a mining company would not be allowed to dump 80,000 tons of waste each day into a river or harbor. One of Australia s historic mining houses and now among the world s largest mining multi-nationals, BHP sought to mine gold, platinum and palladium at Coronation Hill, the site of former South Alligator uranium mines in the 1950's. They lost and the area was incorporated into Kakadu National Park. If the proposal had not been stopped, it would have opened the floodgate for more uranium exploration and potential mines.