Local landowners from the Yandera Copper Project in Madang have stressed their concerns and objections to the upcoming renewal of its project exploration license EL 1335. Most landowners are adamant to have the renewal refused by any incoming Minister for Mining, as they want an innovative developer to come into the project that can do actual work on the ground and have a better approach to community relations. Located 95 kilometers southwest of the northern seaport of Madang and situated within the highly prospective New Guinea Copper-Gold Belt, the Yandera Project area was the subject of intensive, drill-based exploration programs during the late 1960s and 1970s up until the early 2000s by several companies. The recent acquisition of Carpo Resources by Canadian junior Freeport Resources was finalized in August 2021, as Freeport’s report confirms. Since then, they have been the full owner of Carpo Resources and all shares in Era Resources (formerly Marengo Mining), the current holder of EL 1335, which currently has an application for renewal still pending for the past year. A spokesman for the Yandera Landowners Association, Mr. Greg Gambu, raised concern earlier this year that EL 1335 Yandera expired in November 2021, and appealed to the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) not to renew the license to any company except a genuine developer. “Our pristine environment has suffered tremendous damage under the pretext of exploration while the exploration companies have made a lot of money on the stock exchange over the years,” Mr. Gambu said. “With no road access we depend on our rich environment for our survival, and the exploration activities have disturbed our means of survival in a very big way.” “We cannot let them (exploration companies) continue to keep us in suspense and become rich on the stock exchange market at the expense of our suffering by destroying the environment that we depend on for our daily needs.” “It’s time now that they act on the results of their exploration activities – they should decide whether to Pack up and leave us alone or mine the deposit now,” Mr. Gambu added. In response to these statements, MRA Managing Director Mr. Jerry Garry stated: “There is no mining activity in the exploration license (EL 1335) at Yandera Copper mine in Madang Province.” Mr. Garry confirmed that the exploration license is still undergoing extension application, which is deemed ongoing until a determination is made by the Mining Minister, currently Johnson Ibo Tuke MP. “The exploration license is for exploration only and does not extend to mining deposits. EL 1335 was first granted in 2003 and has remained active since,” he added. “The EL has been reviewed for consideration by the Mining Advisory Council, if not it will be reviewed to renew their licenses,” Mr. Garry said. As far as many locals are concerned, they still have a lack of trust in Freeport’s ability to develop Yandera. This was due to reports that showed Freeport’s continued share price decrease since 2021, so they seem uncertain on how Freeport would fund any mining activity at Yandera, even if they obtained a renewal of EL 1335. Before this, officials of the firm have not made any contact with landowners at Yandera during the signing of the acquisition last August. About this issue and the underlying concerns from landowners from Yandera, former Marengo Mining CEO Les Emery commented on the current situation. Emery said: “From 2005 until my team and I were replaced in May 2014, Marengo Mining undertook a vast amount of exploration within the Yandera Project area and the one aspect that was of paramount importance was that we worked to ensure that the local communities were kept continuously informed of what was happening.” “From the reports that I receive from many of my friends within the project area, Freeport has failed to make any sort of contact with the landowners, since announcing their involvement in the Yandera Project, almost one year ago.” “My other concern is the capacity of Freeport to be able to fund the level of budgets required to take the Project to the next stage, given Freeport’s current stated cash reserves and market capitalization, should they be fortunate enough to gain a renewal of EL 1335, they would, in my opinion, struggle to even undertake minor exploration projects, let alone fund the completion of a bankable feasibility study,” Emery added. The Yandera Copper Project and all concerned stakeholders will most likely still await an announcement, as the country is amidst the elections and the appointment and determination of a new Mining minister will see another inevitable delay in the progress to review and renew EL 1335.

Photo: Looking back: Happy memories with the locals at Yandera, Madang Province in 2014. From 2006 until 2014, the Yandera Project was owned and managed by the Australian company, Marengo Mining Limited, with Mr Les Emery as their CEO. (Photo credits: Mr Les Emery) The Yandera Project in Madang Province, PNG, is considered to be one of the world's largest undeveloped copper-gold-molybdenum projects. Currently, it is owned by Freeport Resources Inc., a copper-centric company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. However, the local landowners have expressed their concerns about the current status of the Yandera Project. What the does future hold for Yandera Project? The following may help in understanding its current status and in predicting its future. On 9th January 2023, Freeport Resources Inc. announced a proposed stock issue with an objective to raise up to C$3 million for working capital. On 3rd February 2023 Freeport announced that it had closed the first tranche by raising C$1.47 million.[1] The project was formerly held by the Sentient Private Equity Fund, through Marengo Mining Limited (later re-named Era Resources Inc). The Yandera Project is held under Exploration Licence 1335, which is awaiting approval of a renewal application. Looking back from 2006 until 2014, the Yandera Project was owned and operated by Marengo Mining, with Mr Les Emery as their President & CEO. The locals and landowners felt more at ease with this company under Mr Emery’s leadership. Thus, the transition after 2014 was something they felt was unfavorable for the community as it generated many issues. Photo: Part of the local workforce with Mr Les Emery, CEO of Marengo Mining Limited, which managed the Yandera Project from 2006 until 2014. (Photo credits: Mr Les Emery) In relation to Freeport’s recent announcement on their proposed issue of stock with the objective to raise up to C$3 million, Mr Emery shared his sentiments on the matter. He stated, “Even if they do raise the full amount, speaking from my years of experience at Yandera with Marengo, these funds will go nowhere near getting the project to the next stage.” “It is also interesting to read in the release that they have stated that COVID-19 issues and political concerns have delayed the renewal of EL 1335. However, I believe that the failure of Freeport to fund any activity at Yandera, since they acquired ownership of Era Resources, is the main reason for the renewal application not yet being approved.” Furthermore, he stated, “As I have said on many occasions, I believe that the Minister should be refusing the application for the renewal of EL 1335, to allow a new company to enter the Yandera Project.” “It is time for the Landowners to again raise their voices in opposition to allowing Freeport / Era to remain at Yandera.” Just last year a group of landowners released a media statement to set out their grievances. Their media statements were directly addressed to the Office of the Prime Minister of PNG, the Mining Minister, and others. They stated that Yandera Project was discovered by BHP in the 1970s. However, landowners said that, “Nothing further was done until the Australian company Marengo, headed by CEO Mr Les Emery, entered the project in 2006.” “From 2006, Marengo undertook exploration and other studies on the Yandera Project. This involved the drilling of some 622 diamond drill holes, bulk sampling, metallurgical test work, etc. Total expenditure up to 2014 was around 700 million Kina.” The Project was moving forward until Mr Emery, his Board and Project Team were removed in 2014. This decision was forced by Sentient, the major shareholder at that time. “Soon after the termination of Les Emery in April 2014, Sentient moved to change Marengo's name to Era Resources Inc. and compulsorily acquired all remaining shares in the Company, and in turn the Yandera Project.” Budget reductions followed, and by 2020, local employment at Yandera was nil. Here is another issue. Landowners have reported that Freeport management have never contacted them to explain the transition of ownership nor the company’s plans for the Yandera Project since it acquired Era in 2021. “It is suspected that they are trying to leverage the copper resource at Yandera to improve their share price and nothing more.” [2}    Yandera Resource Owner Concerns From the landowners’ media release regarding the licence renewal, they stated, “The reason of the delay is understood to be because of the lack of work undertaken at Yandera over recent years.” Here are some of the concerns of the people of Yandera: “In July 2017, the people of Yandera became agitated with the Era due to its failure to complete a Definitive Feasibility Study. At that time the Yandera LOA members raised their concerns that the Yandera Project might be put up for ‘sale’.” “During the Mining Wardens hearing, in November 2017 the people of Yandera overwhelmingly objected to the renewal of EL 1335 to Era. However, recommendation to the Minister for Mining was for renewal of EL 1335 to Era for a further 2 years.” “Our objection not to reissue EL 1335 to Era has grounds because the Yandera project literally came to an abrupt stop and has remained close since. We are sure that since buying Era, Freeport has gone hunting around trying to sell the Yandera project to the highest bidder.” The people of Yandera described the site having world-class copper-molybdenum-gold deposit, on par with Frieda and Wafi-Golpu projects. “The measured copper resources at Yandera stand at 959 million tonnes with a current value of USD$35 billion plus or PNGK120 billion. We want to be involved in equitable terms and partial ownership of a mine.” The Landowners said. --- Acknowledgement: Thank you to Mr Les Emery for the guidance and resources for this article. Reference: [1] Freeport Resources Inc. (9 Jan. 2023). "Freeport Announces Private Placement". Freeport Resources Inc. news release. Retrieved from - https://www.freeportresources.com/news-release-1/freeport-announces-private-placement?fbclid=IwAR1DKAShCeGJYxY57PSw4yNKca9SartxA_tEytQ3gW5m6kVMYg1_gGDt9zI [2] Gambu, Kila. Egewo, Arnold.  Buka, Alois (2022). “Yandera Copper-Gold-Molybdenum Project, Bundi, Madang Province”. Media Advertisement.