Photo: Sir Peter Ipatas
According to Sir Peter Ipatas, the re-elected governor of Enga province, Mineral Resources Enga will not be rushed into signing the shareholders agreement.
He said they do not want to rush the signing and will only sign when they are satisfied with a better deal. They are negotiating to get a better price, he claimed.
“For years, the company has been operating and now we have a legal opportunity as the lease has expired and we can now negotiate a better deal for the country, province and landowners,” he said.
“We do not want to rush the signing, it will take a little while as two years is not a long time because gold is not like fruits and vegetables that will be rotten and needs to be harvested, it will still be mined and we are not in a hurry to sign until we reach a stage that we are all satisfied with the outcome.”
The Prime Minister has been good and has secured 51% for the nation to hold, while investors will only own 49%, which was not included in the previous deal, he said, adding that the process is proceeding well and would be in the best interests of the people.
“In this agreement, the State will now put K900 million into the valley and of course, the company will put US15 million (K52.8m) into the valley before they fire up the mine and that is for infrastructure and development.
They will also put in US3 million (K10.5m) for the next nine years and these are the big ticket items in the new agreement that we want,” he said.
Reference: Kamus, Maxine. Post-Courier (1 August 2022). “No Rush To Sign Porgera Project”.
