Mining industry in New Caledonia

Hi there, wondering if any expats, locals or seasoned travelers could give me some insight into the relationship between the mining industry and the community/environment/economy in New Caledonia. I ask because I'm looking at a mining job there and in many parts of the world its not an industry you want to get involved in (understandably!!!).

While I know this site is for travelers, in years past I've found this forum quite helpful with local information since several expats were on who knew A LOT about the culture, communities, etc. Though I've never inquired about a South Pacific country...

Thanks!

I'm afraid that this reply is rather vague but since no one else answered I thought I'd try. I recall reading about some conflict in New Caledonia with regard to a Canadian mining company(maybe INCO) where there was some environmental issues that generated protests. This would have been quite awhile ago and I don't know how it was resolved. I remember someone posting a link to the news item but I can't find it in the archives. If you try a google search using 'Canadian Mining and New Caledonia' you might get some hits. You could also try posting your question on the New Caledonia forum at tripadvisor. Good luck!

The major industrial employer near Noumea is the giant nickel mine, which has 25% of the worlds reserves.

Here is a report on the incident referred to by Newfie -

http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=951

Sorry I dont know how to put the link in any more since they changed TT

Generally, NC is quite peaceful now that there is a kind of timetable to self-determination for NC.

Oh ! I did it.

I'm not too sure about the community side of things but you only need to look at Google Earth to see that NIckel mining has resulted in a very significant proportion of th nation's forest being destroyed. THe way mining is done here also means that the topsoil is taken away making regeneration very slow and near impossible. New caledonia is rated fourth in the world for biodiversity but few areas have escaped the mines. Actually, I do remember some community stuff. There have been quite a few problems in the past with the mines contaminating rivers that people relied on for their livelihoods with heavy metals.