Indonesia: PT DPM granted new environmental approval; communities allege procedural flaws and vow court challenge
"‘Same dangerous project’: Fury after Indonesia revives disputed mine", Mongabay, 22 May 2026
Indonesia’s environment ministry has issued a new approval for a controversial zinc and lead mine in an earthquake-prone region of Sumatra Island, less than a year after a Supreme Court ruling forced it to rescind its earlier approval.
The new approval was issued for an environmental impact assessment that updates the previous assessment produced by PT Dairi Prima Mineral (DPM) [...].
That earlier impact assessment, known as an Amdal in Indonesian, was faulted by nearby residents and experts for a plan to hold mining waste sludge behind a dam [...].
The updated Amdal does away with the proposed permanent tailings dam, and instead proposes mixing the mining waste with cement and water and injecting it into mined-out voids underground, a process known as cemented paste backfill.
But residents [...] say the new one changes nothing in terms of minimizing the risk that the mine and its waste will pose to nearby communities.
[...] some community members have expressed their intent to challenge the new environmental approval in court.