ABSTRACT
New Caledonia is an overseas territory of France located in the Pacific Ocean, 1,500 kilometers east of Australia and 1,700 kilometers north of New Zealand. According to Dupon, the Thio center provides, especially by its plateau mine, "the most striking example of environmental damage caused by mining activity in New Caledonia." The nature of nickel extraction represents a serious threat to the physical environment since it destroys the natural vegetation and strips away the surface layer of soil, leading to severe erosion on the steep slopes of the mining areas. The repatriation of Vietnamese workers in the 1960s led to a labor shortage. The Thio Kanaks participated in a territory-wide election boycott which was very successful in the region—only ten Kanaks and less than twenty-five percent of the 1,700 inscribed on the electoral lists voted. The impacts of opencast nickel mining on the social and physical landscape of New Caledonia are likely to persist for a prolonged period.
