Solomon Islands gold miner, Melbourne based St Barbara, says the Solomons Government is critical to ensuring a tailings dam does not burst.
Its shut down Gold Ridge mine needs an improved tailings storage facility before the wet season or the downstream environmental effects could be catastrophic.
The Government, which wants to buy the mine, claims it is a problem for the company to solve.
But chief executive, Bob Vassie, says security remains unsatisfactory and vandalism of their equipment is continuing.
He says roading access also needs government input and it has to sort out environmental approvals.
"We can't doing anything of the nature we are looking at without the approval of the Government, in terms of environmental approvals. And those environmental approvals have to involve the local communities - clearly that is the case. Now we are not in a position to just do what we like there."