Photo credit: Newcrest According to managing director Jerry Garry of the Papua New Guinea Mineral Resources Authority (MRA), processing and shipping of the gold or copper from the Wafi-Golpu project will take six years. He commended the province executive council and Morobe Governor Luther Wenge for promoting the project's launch. Wenge announced that Morobe has approved the start-up of the US$5.4 billion (K18.5 billion) Wafi-Golpu project. Wenge said that Wafi Golpu was a source of income that Morobe was losing out on as a result of the delay in starting it up. He declared that the Morobe administration, commanded by the late governor Gibson Saonu, would drop all legal actions. Wenge stated that the province was ready to formally approve the mine and the deep sea tailing placement (Dstp) technique of mine waste disposal in December. “Wafi-Golpu will open and DSTP will go on. “Anyone who disagrees can take it to court with their own research and facts,” he said. Garry said: “That is very positive support. As a regulator, (the MRA is) pleased. “In terms of project permitting, we recognise that the project has some more work to do. “They (operator) must be permitted to go underground, drill more holes, understand the rock formation and improve their confidence in the mineral resource itself. “Within the five years, they will be doing a lot of drilling and developing platforms for the construction of the mine, etc.”   Reference: Pacific Mining Watch (11 September 2022). “It will take six years to process gold, copper for Wafi-Golpu Project in PNG : MRA”. 

Photo credit: Newcrest With the help of royalties, taxes, a production levy, and vendor agreements, PNG has received K1.5 billion from Newcrest's Lihir Gold Mine in the province of New Ireland. Speaking during the recent induction of the Members of the 11th Parliament in Port Moresby, Newcrest PNG country manager Stanley Komunt stated that the business is dedicated to investing in PNG. He stated that Newcrest is pleased with the progress it has made toward a more powerful and affluent Papua New Guinea and that it looks forward to "expanding our presence in the nation for many years to come." “In financial year 2022 (from July 2021 to June 2022) the highlights of Lihir’s contribution to PNG include, but are not limited to the following K238.8 million total tax and production levy paid to the PNG government, K85.8 million in royalties paid to the PNG government and Newcrest prioritises the purchase of goods and services from local suppliers and contractors in PNG,” Mr Komunt said. “In 2022, the company paid K1.2 billion to PNG suppliers for operating costs including equipment, labour, maintenance, consumables, food and fuel and out of this, over K553 million was to Lihirian vendors, which is an increase of 8 per cent on the same period last year.” One of the biggest foreign exchange donors to PNG, according to him, is Newcrest, which purchased K1.711 billion in cash and contributed almost US$487 million to the country's foreign exchange balance. Measures attempted to lessen the effects of COVID-19 on Lihir's communities and activities, according to Mr. Komunt, resulted in an extra K144 million in management expenses. He also emphasised the need of stable policies and regulations, which will promote expanded mining exploration and the approval of new mining enterprises.

Photo: Philip Samar  According to the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, the government must make greater efforts to safeguard the economy by encouraging exploration to find new projects in the resources sector. Chamber Vice-President Philip Samar said that the resource sector has made direct contributions to the government totaling K2.9 billion to State-owned enterprises, K1.2 billion in taxes, K1 billion in royalties, K637 million in fees and levies to state agencies, and K444 million for social projects in impacted communities. These figures are based on the most recent data from the 2019 EITI country report. The majority of the current mines, according to Samar, are mature, although a few only handle lesser grades and have a relatively short lifespan. “PNG has had a very significant drop in production from our major exports over the last three years,” he said. “Gold was down 40 per cent due to the closure of Porgera, copper down 55 per cent and nickel down 15 per cent. “While this has been significantly offset by increased commodity prices, this is a worrying trend that must be addressed by doing more in the exploration stage to ensure the discovery, development, growth, and continuity of the mining sector in PNG. “This does not measure the multiplier effect which adds further to government contributions, suppliers and contractors with every mine employee also contributing to the economy when spending their wages,” Samar said the multiplier effects were greater when there was a major construction project occurring. “This has a great significance when we consider how our economy recovers from the Covid-19 induced weakness over the next five years with the Porgera restart, Wafi Golpu, and Papua LNG approvals, and the Kainantu mine expansion all expected to occur during this period,” he said.   Reference: The National (1 September 2022). “Promote exploration, govt told”.

Photo: Ok Tedi Mine According to the Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, the resources industry contributes 39% to the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). As current mines near their end of life, such Ok Tedi, which will stop operating by 2030, vice president Philip Samar said exploration was essential for the industry's survival. “Exploration is a high-risk business with a failure rate of 99 per cent,” he said. “For every 1,000 exploration prospects, only 50 will move to advanced exploration followed by only two that will move to feasibility studies and only one will become a mine. “Ramu took 50 years from discovery to development while Lihir, Porgera and Ok Tedi took just under 20 years plus a very significant amount of investment and expertise, so we need to act now to revive the exploration sector or the next 50 years will be bleak with no new mines for development.” According to data from the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA), exploration licences were issued for the whole nation in 2011 alone. With only a few exploration licences active in 2022, all of these operations have already ceased. Samar stated that the chamber was dedicated to working in collaboration with the government to solve the crucial factors required to promote exploration and mining, such as: PROSPECTIVITY; CLEAR legal authority; SECURITY of tenure and transferability of exploration and mining rights; EXCLUSIVITY of exploration and mining rights; NON-DISCRIMINATION between local and foreign nationals; PREFERENTIAL right to convert an exploration licence to mining licence; REASONABLE royalty rates; TRANSPARENT licensing procedures; CLEAR and uniform policy on government ownership; and, PROTECTION against speculation.   Reference: The National (2 September 2022). “Exploration crucial for mining”.

Photo credit: Kumul Petroleum - Ila Temu The government must now think about creating a strategy to facilitate the raising of equity capital for fresh resource projects. Dr Ila Temu, country executive director for Barrick Niugini Limited, stated that one of the major challenges that have to be resolved is the financing of equity for resource projects in the nation. According to him, in the early going in Porgera and Lihir, they were able to secure preferential financing from EXIM banks thanks to a government-to-government connection, and that's how they paid for the equity for Porgera landowners and Lihir landowners. As there is presently no plan in place, Dr Temu questioned how the government is getting ready to fund the additional stock that they must purchase for the new projects. He emphasised that the government does have Kumul Petroleum, which owns the ownership in LNG, and that Kumul is organising the money for the equity when it occurs for the Papua LNG project. According to him, a commercial firm receives funds from another entity to help it conduct its business. “I’m of the view that the concessional funding either from bilateral or multilateral is still a good way to fund the equity for resource project,” Dr Temu said. “I think we should explore that a bit more, this is something to live with the new Members of Parliament.” A finance mechanism that may support the purchase of equity for the state, the government, or the landowners must be put in place, according to him, and this requires government policies and actions. According to Dr. Temu, the mining and petroleum industries have done very well over the past 30 to 40 years in arranging both the ownership debate and the benefit distribution in a way that permits rights to everyone who is touched. “Moving forward, there is plenty of room for change and that includes to finding the right pathway on how the government can acquire equity funds for new projects that are in place,” he said.   Reference: Wohi, Lorraine. Post-Courier (29 August 2022). “Government Urged To Look At New Pathways To Acquire Resource Equity”.

The re-opening of Papua New Guinea's Pogera Mine must be accelerated as it is a key contributor to the foreign exchange says, BSP Financial Group (BSP) CEO Robin Fleming. The mine has been closed since 2019, but a reopening is imminent after representatives of Mineral Resources Enga and landowners recently signed the shareholder agreement. Foreign exchange dynamics and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will alter with the reopening of the mine, according to Mr. Fleming, who spoke to FM100/Hot97FM News. The expansion of the Papua LNG Project and the development of the P'nyang Gas Project are two more significant extractive sector initiatives that Mr. Fleming says would help the economy. According to him, the economy would be stimulated by these projects alone when they become a financial investment programme in the third or fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2023.   Reference: Pacific Mining Watch (22 August 2022). “Re-opening Porgera Mine will boost PNG Economy: Fleming”.

Photo credit: K92 Mining Inc K92 Mining Inc is pleased to announce that it has published its 2021 Sustainability Report. This is K92’s third annual sustainability report, outlining the environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) practices and performance of the Company. The report builds on the progress of our reporting and disclosures including key metrics in accordance with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (“SASB”) Metals and Mining Standard, and marks the start of K92’s alignment with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”) recommendations. A climate risk and opportunity assessment was completed, as well as a road map to further enhance K92’s climate management practices. The 2021 Sustainability Report is available on the K92 website at the following link: https://k92mining.com/responsible-mining/ Environment, Social and Governance Highlights: 14% year-over-year increase in corporate tax and second-largest taxpayer in the mining industry in Papua New Guinea ($13.0 million paid in corporate tax). 95% of workforce and 98% of contractors are PNG Nationals with priority hiring from local communities. $0.9 million in total community investment . 14% year-over-year Lost Time Incident (LTI) frequency reduction and once again operating with one of the best safety records in the Australasian region. ~50% lower carbon intensity per gold equivalent ounce produced compared to the global average (1) . 1.5 million PGK ($450,000) from the COVID-19 Assistance Fund supporting Papua New Guinea National Government, Eastern Highlands and Morobe Provincial Governments and local communities’ efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Environment, Health, Safety, Social and Sustainability Committee of the Board (the “ESG Committee”) was established to provide oversight with respect to environment, climate change, health, safety, social, sustainability, and other public policy matters relevant to K92. Beginning alignment with TCFD recommendations by conducting a climate risk and opportunity assessment to support a low carbon transition and to build climate resilience, developing a road map for improved climate management practices. 10 million tree program participant supporting Papua New Guinea’s goal of planting one million new trees per year until 2030 and delivered 10,000 tree seedlings to schools around the Kainantu mine in 2021. 63% of total expenditures locally procured since start of operations, supporting the long-term development of locally-owned businesses, which earned $15.5 million in 2021. Establishment of Diversity and Inclusion Policy to formalize our stance on embracing individuality and differences, and expectations of our people. Human Rights Policy established to confirm our commitment to respecting the human rights and dignity of all individuals within our operations, supply chain, and communities in which we operate. Sustainable Agriculture Livelihoods program expanded, employing ~80% women to provide them with active income and business skills, and committing $300,000 to establish a new market complex in the town of Kainantu to encourage commerce. Strong commitment to education and training, including a 160,074 PGK ($46,000) contribution to post-secondary scholarships for 48 qualifying students, a $13,600 investment in business training for 489 impacted landowners and community members, and 96 students graduating from our Adult Literacy Program in 2021. Three additional scholarships were awarded to the top 3 rd year students in Mining Engineering, Metallurgy and Mineral processing, and in 2022, addition of a Women in Mining Scholarship. Community access to clean water increased through an investment of $37,500 (materials, excludes labour cost) and commitment to providing impacted communities with fresh water by improving water lines and installing new water supply systems. All amounts are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise indicated. Note (1): Based on S&P Global Market Intelligence 2020 data on a gold produced basis. John Lewins, K92 Chief Executive Officer and Director, stated, “It is with a tremendous sense of pride that we provide our various stakeholders K92’s 2021 Sustainability Report. The report demonstrates the far-reaching positive impact that the Kainantu Gold Mine continues to have on our local communities and Papua New Guinea, providing an update on our ESG practices, performance, and accomplishments. The 2021 report continued the trend of increasing our disclosure to global frameworks, through commencing our alignment to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations and developing a road map to further enhance our climate risk and opportunity management. We also completed a greenhouse gas emissions inventory, and I am pleased to report that the Kainantu Gold Mine is a low carbon mine, with an emissions intensity approximately 50% below peers per ounce produced. The emissions inventory also highlighted opportunities to materially reduce our emissions near-term. Work on this in conjunction with PNG Power is well underway. It is important to highlight that these accomplishments were achieved during a particularly challenging period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our workforce rose to the occasion, showing a strong commitment and dedication to the community, through continuity of many community projects, maintaining environmental commitments, while also increasing the economic benefit through expanding operations. The support of the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Government of Australia was also a major factor in our success.”   Article courtesy of K92 Mining

The Shareholders Agreement has finally been approved in Port Moresby by Mineral Resources Enga and the Landowners of the Porgera Gold Mine in Enga Province. Nixon Mangape, director of Mineral Resources Enga (MRE), stated that although MRE had been expected to approve the shareholder's agreement four to five months prior, there were still certain concerns that needed to be resolved. The equity, resettlement date deadline, commencement date, and security deed deadlines, which weren't included in the agreement until recently, were the three main issues, according to Mr. Mangape, that contributed to the delay in signing the shareholder's agreement. However, they have now reached an agreement and done so in response to the national interest. “I am appealing to the Prime Minister that the first agenda we must discuss during the development forum is the resettlement of the people because the mine is located in a village and we must discuss on how we can move the landowners out of the mine area,” Mr Mangape said. In a statement, the Enga Provincial Government-owned Mineral Resources Enga (MRE) and landowners signed a shareholder agreement for the Porgera Gold Mine, which was applauded by Prime Minister James Marape. According to Mr. Marape, it represents a significant development toward the reopening of the Porgera mine, which has been shut down since 2019. “The long-overdue reopening of the Porgera Gold Mine is finally in sight following yesterday’s milestone achievement,” Mr Marape said. “I thank Enga Provincial Government, particularly Governor Sir Peter Ipatas, and Porgera landowners, led by their leader Nixon Mangape for making this possible. The agreement paves the way for the Development Forum and progression towards mine reopening at the earliest.” The Shareholders Agreement was signed by Mineral Resource Enga (MRE), which was welcomed by Barrick Niugini Limited. In the upcoming days, Barrick Niugini Limited will issue a media statement with more information about the Porgera Mine restart.   Reference: Kamus, Maxine. Post-Courier (19 August 2022). “MRE Signs Off On Porgera Mine Shareholders Deal”. 

Photo credit: Pacific Mine Watch Prime Minister Hon. James Marape has welcomed the signing of the Porgera Gold Mine shareholder agreement by Enga Provincial Government-owned Mineral Resources Enga (MRE) and landowners in Port Moresby today (August 18 2022). He said it was a “milestone achievement” towards reopening of the Porgera mine which has been closed since 2019. “The long-overdue reopening of the Porgera Gold Mine is finally in sight following today’s milestone achievement,” PM Marape said. “I thank Enga Provincial Government, particularly Governor Hon. Sir Peter Ipatas, and Porgera landowners, led by their leader Nixon Mangape, for making this possible. “Today’s agreement paves the way for the Development Forum and progression towards mine reopening at the earliest.”   Article courtesy of PM James Marape News Page

Photo credit: Ok Tedi Mining Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) is committed to ensuring the closure of the mine is done in accordance with the approved mine closure plan when the mine ceases production. The plan which has been developed and updated since 1997 includes the decommissioning of mining infrastructure, the rehabilitation of operation sites, the ongoing monitoring of the affected environment the transfer of public infrastructure or services currently provided by OTML and the establishment of a fund to implement the plan. The Company stated this during a Mine Closure Consultation Meeting that was held in Port Moresby from August 03rd – 05th 2022 which was organised by the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) and attended by landowners, government and OTML representatives. The meeting was held to discuss OTML’s closure plan which is being reviewed and will be submitted to the MRA before the end of this year. OTML is required under the Ok Tedi Act to review and submit an updated closure plan to the MRA every 3 years. One of the key challenges is the transfer of public infrastructure and services which include the Kiunga power, water & sewerage systems, the Tabubil Hospital, the Tabubil township, and the maintenance of the Tabubil/Kiunga highway to third parties before mine closure but is not that simple since the operations of these facilities and assets are heavily subsidised by OTML. Third parties have shown interest but have been reluctant to take on these assets since they are not viable without OTML’s subsidies. For example, each year the Company spends over K10 Million to subsidise power, water and sewerage services in Kiunga, a government township that has a population of over 20,000 people. OTML continues to have discussions with potential partners including the Fly River Provincial Government to develop a practical model that will sustain these services post closure and OTML’s plan is to handover these services to the new owners while OTML is still operating. It was also revealed at the meeting that the Company has set aside USD245 million for the sole purpose of implementing the closure plan when the Company ceases production. The amount is reviewed every 3 years as part of the closure planning process and additional contributions to the closure fund will be made if the estimated closure costs exceeds the current amount.

The Mining Advisory Council is now evaluating the mining lease application for the Mambare Nickel Project, one of the nation's future nickel and cobalt projects in Northern Province. According to Jerry Garry, managing director of the Mineral Resources Authority, no decision has been taken regarding the nickel project's start of operations as of yet. If given a mining permit, the Mambare Nickel Project will transport its ore abroad for processing rather than processing it locally like the Ramu Nickel mine in Madang. The price and advantages of conveying the ore bodies are included in the critical evaluations. According to Mr. Garry, Ramu Nickel has a very comparable deposit location. They process the product in Basamuk and send out what is referred to as the intermediate product rather than the ultimate product or mix nickel-cobalt hydroxide. He said that high-quality ore pockets are what the mine is after. “If they mine all the high-grade pockets, the low-grade pockets will become uneconomical,” Mr. Garry said. He said that it is crucial because, if the entire ore body were to be mined in the future, it would be affected because these high-grade spots, which are essentially nickel grades above 1.5%, would have previously been exploited by direct shipping of ore. The financial benefit of establishing downstream processing, like Ramu Nickel, as well as the benefit of transporting these directly, as well as the total advantages to the state, are the other issues that have been brought up. All of them, according to Mr. Garry, have been carefully considered by the Mining Advisory Council. He stated that the council will be in a position to issue or propose the issuance of the mining lease if they are convinced that the plan will better benefit the state and it is the only feasible choice for the exploitation of these resources. Oro Nickel, a joint venture between Corcel Plc (41%), and Battery Metals Pty Ltd, owns all of Mambare (59 per cent).   Reference: Wohi, Lorraine. Post-Courier (4 August 2022). “Mambare Application For Lease Under Assessment”.

Photo credit: Post Courier - Mineral Resources Authority Managing Director Jerry Garry New mining companies looking to invest in the country are currently faced with a significant barrier due to the lack of infrastructure development in the nation. Although there is a significant demand for nickel cobalt and other high strategic minerals, with prices set to rise, the absence of infrastructure is a serious barrier, according to Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) managing director Jerry Garry. Even though the nation has the resources, he claimed, the cost of doing business has significantly increased. “If we have electricity, if we have access road and better wharf, a lot of the average deposits like the Wowo Gap and Mambare would have been developed a long time ago. “Sometimes we really have to be considerate in whether we want to harvest these resources or we wait for the infrastructure to come or what are the options available,” Mr. Garry said. He claimed that COVID-19 and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine over the supply of petroleum are two factors that have raised the cost of doing business in the nation. “The average cost of building new mine project has gone up by 30 to 40 per cent across the globe. “If we do not have the basic infrastructures, the cost of building the new mines would really have a toll and may render those projects uneconomical,” Mr. Garry said.   Reference: Wohi, Lorraine. Post-Courier (4 August 2022). “Gerry: Lack of Infrastructure Challenge To Mine Operators”.

Before the end of this year, the Porgera Mine in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province is anticipated to begin operations.   Prime Minister James Marape told the media recently that Porgera is one of the economic assets that must start, apart from Wafi-Golpu, Papua LNG and P’yang Gas. He said that the Mineral Resource Enga, landowners, and the Enga Provincial Government had several legacy difficulties with Porgera. The National Government, Barrick Niugini Limited, and Kumul Mining are hoping that the affected parties—the landowners of Porgera and the Enaga Provincial Government—can quickly reach an agreement over sharing of their 15 percent benefit, which was provided without charge. According to Mr. Marape, the country should profit overall from the opening of the new mine at a rate of 51%. He said that before the election, his administration had sanctioned K700 million over seven (7) years to build infrastructure in the Porgera Valley. The Porgera Mine was shut down in April 2020 after the mining lease ran out, and it has been in a care and maintenance condition ever then. Mark Bistrow, CEO of Barrick Niugini, stated two weeks ago that maintaining the mine was exceedingly expensive. For maintenance and upkeep, he claimed it costs K35 million every month. Mr. Marape stated that the Papua LNG project is moving to front-end engineering and design, or FEED, and that production is anticipated to begin in 2024.   Reference: Pacific Mining Watch (2 August 2022). “PNG's Porgera Mine to Start operations this year”.

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”. 

Photo credit: Geopacific Resources - Figure 1: Mining Lease exploration target areas Geopacific Resources Limited is pleased to provide an update on its exploration drilling campaign at the Woodlark Gold Project. Highlights  Drill holes in to the Talpos and Watou targets generated several positive results including:  Talpos  TARC22008: 11 metres at 3.04g/t Au from 49 metres and 11 metres at 0.74g/t Au from 63 metres; and  TARC22003: 3 metres at 2.66g/t Au from 32 metres.  Watou  WTRC22006B: 10 metres at 2.80g/t Au from 68 metres, including 4 metres at 5.35g/t Au from 69 metres.  The Company has received the first 18 holes from the recently undertaken regional drilling campaign at the Project.  Results highlight the potential of the Talpos and Watou targets, located at the southern end of the Mining Lease, and demonstrate the broader regional exploration opportunities on Woodlark Island.  A further 7 holes from the exploration campaign have been completed with samples currently in the laboratory awaiting assay.  The RC drilling program is ongoing and drilling activities will accelerate following the arrival of a diamond drill rig.  These results at Watou and Talpos continue to grow the broader geological understanding of the Woodlark Gold Project and reinforce the potential for resource growth to be delivered by testing priority exploration targets across the Mining Lease. Chief Executive Officer, Tim Richards commented “The infill, resource extension and now Mining Lease exploration drilling programs are essential inputs into the ongoing Woodlark Island re-evaluation and optimisation process. These drilling programs deliver key technical inputs that are integral for project reassessment. Geopacific remains on target to deliver a resource update in Q4 2022 along with further drilling to validate of the exploration potential on the Mining Lease and potentially other targets.”   Mining Lease Exploration   Geopacific continues to execute the resource and exploration strategy outlined in the May 2022 Corporate presentation. The company continues to deliver on the drilling activities and timeline outlined in the 2022 Planned work program. Post the completion of the grade control drilling campaign at Kulumadau, the Company commenced an exploration drilling program across the broader Mining Lease. The Mining Lease contains a number of targets that have not previously been subject to drilling and the campaign is designed to begin to test the prospectivity of these targets. The Talpos and Watou targets in the southern end of the Mining Lease were the initial focus of the campaign, and to date an initial 25 exploration holes have been drilled. Mining Lease exploration drilling will continue into the future, to test these and other targets.     Full press release can be found HERE