Digging minerals out of the ground is, ipso facto, a destructive business. Giant open-cast mines or underground tunnels which leave behind piles of refuse at ground level, are almost bound to upset the people who are unlucky enough to find themselves living beside them. And Indonesia, where mining is one of the mainstays of the economy, is no exception.

Two major cases prove the point. The first pitted the Amungme people of southern Irian Jaya