With gold, copper and liquefied natural gas (LNG) expected to be strong, the economy could rebound this year.
According to K92 Mining Inc chief executive officer John Lewins, this would be achievable if the impact of the COVID crisis is managed and that 2021 would still be a challenging year for many.
He said that in early January, the cost of gold rallied briefly to US$1,960 per ounce (K7,072.10) before going back to US$1,840 an ounce (K6,639.12). For 2021, it is expected that gold price would be above US$2,000/oz (K7,216.43) caused by the monetary and fiscal stimulus in the US, the US dollar expected to be weak, inflation threats, and low-interest rates.
Lewins said if the Wafi-Golpu project and the Papua LNG project were approved, they would have a very significant positive impact, plus the restart of the Porgera mine.
“Other areas such as agriculture and fisheries should also perform well and hopefully demand increases as the major developing economies recover with the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine,” he said. “However, international tourism is unlikely to recover until 2022 at the earliest. So this will impact hotels, airlines and the like.”
With the opening of these projects, Lewis said that there might be a shortage of skilled workers - which could have a negative impact on current operations.
“This is something we seek to address by increasing our commitment to training,” he said.
