Washington DC – In the wake of last week's announcement that Freeport-McMoRan Cooper and Gold would be developing the Busang gold reserves in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, a broad coalition of organisations has express concern that the new mine will give rise to substantiaal new environmental degradation and human rights problems and has urged the New Orleans-based company to take staps now to address these issues.

The organisations note that the Busang mine is located in an area of East Kalimantan currently occupied by the Kenyah Dayak and other peoples of Muara Ancalong who according to Indonesian press reports, have stated that they do not want to be resettled. In addition, the mine site is in an area with a unique and fragile tropical rainforest ecosystem that is borne of a wide variety of animal and plant specied.

Freeport currently operates the Grasberg mine in the Timika area of Irian Jaya in Indonesia - the world's largest gold mine - and has announced plans to expand the operation. A recent story in The Wall Street Journal noted that Freeport's Irian Jaya operations have been "dogged by rumours of environmental damage and complicity in human rights abuses". The coalition is urging Freeport to take all possible steps now to avoid replication of the problems that have been associated with its current operation in Irian Jaya.

In keeping with Freeport's public statements that the company wants to learn from its past mistakes and improve its practices, the coalition has urged Freeport to take the following steps:

1. Refrain from signing a Contract of Work agreement for the Busang site that requires the provision of assistance to the Indonesian military.

2. In the settlement of land-use and other issues related to the establishment and operation of the mine, to ensure that affected local people have independent advocates, that sufficient time is allowed for consensus in their own language, and that outsiders can observe the process. In addition, the coalition has urged Freeport to refrain from involving the Indonesian military in the settlement of these issues.

3. Identify the steps Freeport will take to avoid the potential negative environmental and social impact of planned mining operations at the Busang site and to respond to the concerns of the Kenyah people and other communities that may be affected.

4. Identify the steps Freeport is taking to respond to the concerns of the Moni, Amungme and Komoro peoples in Irian Jaya, and

5. Permit regular and open monitoring of sites of the Busang and Irian Jaya operations by independent huamn rights and environmental groups, particularly local non-governmental organisations.

Members of the coalition include representatives of the Environmental Defence Fund, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Centre for Human Rights, Friends of the Earth-US, Centre for International Environmental Law, Mineral Policy Centre and Sierra Club. The coalition has asked for a meeting with representatives of Freeport McMoRan to discuss these issues.