JAKARTA, 12 November 2026 — Affected communities from North Sumatra returned to the Jakarta State Administrative Court today for the next hearing in their ongoing legal battles against the government’s reapproval of a high-risk zinc and lead mine being developed by Dairi Prima Mineral (DPM).
Today’s hearing marks a critical phase in their second case, with the court convening to hear community testimony regarding objections to the project. While proceedings take place inside, community members are staging cultural protests outside the court and simultaneously in Dairi Regency to highlight the ongoing threats the proposed mine would pose to their safety and way of life.
“We are holding this cultural protest because the DPM mine would threaten not only our land, water, and livelihoods, but also our culture and our connection to the places that have sustained our communities for generations,” said Ms. Tioman Simangunsong, an affected community member from Dairi. “We are here to declare that we will not stop fighting until this mine is stopped. We must protect our communities, our children, and those who come after us.”
The current legal challenge follows a landmark Indonesian Supreme Court victory in August 2024 that successfully overturned the project’s original environmental permit. The Supreme Court found serious shortcomings in public participation, zoning and the assessment of disaster risks. Independent assessments of the original mine plans warned that an earthquake, unstable foundations, or heavy rainfall could cause an above ground tailings dam to fail, sending a wave of liquid mud downstream, putting communities, waterways and farmland at risk. More than 11,000 people, most of them Indigenous, live in villages near or downstream from the proposed mine.
After the government revoked the original environmental approval in May 2025, the company submitted a revised environmental assessment featuring a new mine waste management plan. The government approved the mine again in March 2026. The communities petitioned the Administrative Court in July 2026 to annul that second approval, arguing that environmental risks were not properly evaluated.
“What does it mean for the rule of law in Indonesia if communities fight for years, win in the highest court in the country, and then watch the government approve a harmful mine again?” said Ms. Juniaty Aritonang, Executive Director, BAKUMSU, an organization supporting the communities including with their legal challenge. “This case is about whether communities can rely on Indonesia’s environmental laws and legal system to protect them, and whether the government can be held accountable.”
Independent experts have questioned the feasibility of the mine plans. Mining waste expert, Dr. Steven Emerman, a U.S. representative of the International Organization for Standardization’s Technical Advisory Group on Underground Mine Tailings Backfill, has pointed to experience from other mines, where typically a maximum of 50-60% of tailings can be returned underground. He has said that if the tailings are toxic, as they will be in the case of DPM, they cannot be sold as a by-product. Dr. David Williams, Emeritus Professor of Geotechnical Engineering and Specialist Consultant in Tailings and Mine Waste Management and Mine Closure from The University of Queensland, Australia says, “If DPM were allowed to start, a large tailings dam would be inevitable, and in Dairi, the consequences and likelihood of a collapse would be extreme.”
“The court’s decision in this case could set an important precedent to address irresponsible mining across Indonesia,” said Ms. Jan Morrill, International Mining Senior Manager at Earthworks. “Companies should not be allowed to make assurances about the safety of their operations without those claims standing up to independent scrutiny. The court must carefully examine the expert evidence on whether DPM’s revised waste-management plan is technically feasible, and whether it can genuinely protect communities and the environment.”
Affected communities have also raised concerns about a lack of meaningful community participation in the revised environmental assessment. Community members say they were not invited to the company’s November 2025 consultation, leaving those most affected excluded from decisions about their future.
“Indonesia is positioning itself as a sustainable and responsible supplier of critical minerals in the global energy transition, but that ambition is under the microscope in this case,” said Mr. Anirudha Nagar, Asia-Pacific Regional Lead at Inclusive Development International, which has been supporting the Dairi communities since 2019. “You cannot claim to be building a sustainable mining sector while approving projects that put communities, their livelihoods and the environment at extreme risk. We are hopeful the court process will help to bring about a just transition, which protects rather than sacrifices the rights of communities.”