The Ok Tedi is a river in New Guinea. The Ok Tedi Mine is located near the headwaters of the river, which is sourced in the Star Mountains. It is the second largest tributary of the Fly River. Nearly the entirety of the river runs through the North Fly District, Western Province, North Fly District of the Western Province (Papua New Guinea), Western Province of Papua New Guinea, but the river crosses the international boundary with Indonesia for less than one kilometre. The largest settlement of the Western Province, Tabubil, Papua New Guinea, Tabubil is located near its banks.
Description
Known as the Ok Tedi River by the Yonggom people who live on its western bank, it was renamed the Alice River by the Italian explorer Luigi d'Albertis.
[Peter D. Dwyer, Monica Minnegal and Chris Warrillo]
The forgotten expedition - 1885: The Strickland River, Papua New Guinea
Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society 101(1):7-24 · June 2015 ''Ok'' is the word for water or river in the Ok languages family. It is a tributary of the Fly River. Tributaries of the Ok Tedi include the Birim River (New Guinea), Birim.
The Kiunga-Tabubil Highway runs parallel with the river for the majority of its course, until just south of Ningerum where the highway veers southeast towards Kiunga, Papua New Guinea, Kiunga, a port town on the Fly River.
The river is extremely fast-moving and has a massive capacity. It is situated on a sand bank, which allows for the river to change course quickly without warning. The sand conditions underneath the river and the extremely high rainfall of the Star Mountains Rural LLG, catchment area make it one of the fastest moving rivers in the world. The roar from the river can be heard for many kilometres through the dense jungle of North Fly District, Western Province, the district.
The pristine river was devastated by the Ok Tedi environmental disaster, an enormous open pit copper/gold mine which discharges waste directly into the river. Until its seizure by the Government of Papua New Guinea, the mine was owned by BHP.
Notes
External links
Description and maps of the Fly River system, including the Ok Tedi River
Rivers of Papua New Guinea
Western Province (Papua New Guinea)
Fly River
International rivers of Asia
International rivers of Oceania
Rivers of Papua (province)
Rivers of Indonesia
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