Huge Bauxite Plan in Central Highlands Criticized Strongly

The huge plan on exploiting bauxite ore in the central highlands region has been started but it is facing sharp criticism from scientists and environmentalists, state media reported.

 

Vietnam’s reserves of bauxite, used to produce aluminum, are estimated at about 5.3 billion tons, 64.6 per cent of which is located in the central highlands province of Dak Nong, Vietnamnet said.

 

The government last year authorized the Vietnam Coal and Minerals Industry Group (Vinacomin) to conduct a project on exploiting a rich mine with the estimated reserve of 3.4 billion tons, which it believes will help strengthen the Central Highlands’ economic development.

 

However, at a two-day conference, which opened Wednesday in Dak Nong province, Vinacomin received stern warnings from experts who fear the project will take a heavy toll on the environment in the region.

 

They also warned it would take years for the province to rehabilitate mined areas.

 

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Son, Director of the Red River Energy Company subsidiary of Vinacomin, said he doubted the project was feasible, especially with low domestic demand for aluminum and the current power shortage.

 

Son believes this is a strategic mistake of Vinacomin, saying that there are inherent risks.

 

He said the program on exploiting bauxite ore approved by the Prime Minister is ‘too ambitious’. Aluminum is not considered a ‘previous metal’ in any country in the world; therefore, the countries do not try to exploit the ore at any cost.

 

Vinacomin’s project to exploit ore and make alumina for export will not bring high economic efficiency. It will only serve foreign aluminum producers who do not want to spend a lot of money on exploitation, Son went on.

 

He said the domestic aluminum industry is not really big, and Vietnam still does not have necessary conditions, especially power, to build factories for the export of aluminum. It is clear that the exploitation program will require a huge sum of capital and high technologies which will force Vietnam to rely on foreign capital and technologies.

 

Moreover, possible impacts on the environment have not been thoroughly assessed, he added.

 

Son called for the establishment of a national committee on sustainable development for the central highlands region as well as thorough studies on cultural, environmental, and socio-economic effects of bauxite exploitation.

 

Son called for bauxite mining to be halted until comprehensive environmental impact studies could be completed.

 

Other participants at the conference also voiced their concern over the environment damage bauxite mining would cause.

 

Bauxite mining and aluminum processing would discharge dozens of millions of tons of toxic mud per year which was likely to contaminate the environment and the water sources of not only the central highlands but also the southern regions, the meeting heard.

 

The exploitation would also take a major amount of electricity in a country struggling with chronic power shortages.

 

A water shortage was also likely to occur, severely impacting central highlands agricultural producers, said Professor Dao Cong Tien, former president of the Ho Chi Minh City’s Economics University. (VietNamNet, Thanh Nien Daily, Youth)