Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) has applied for a Lease for Mining Purpose (LMPA 102) seeking land tenure for a water supply project.
Application LMPA 102 is an application seeking Grant of Tenure at Aipulungu to support a small scale Weir Project, which is expected to assist the Porgera Gold Mine manage water more sustainably during long dry spells.
A weir is a barrier across the horizontal width of the river that alters the flow characteristics of the water and usually results in a change in the vertical height of the river level.
The project is required to supplement current water supply to the operation from Waile Creek Dam, which is the main water supply for the Porgera process plant and mine.
Last month the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) conducted a Mining Warden Hearing with landowners in Porgera in response to the application.
“The law stipulates that before the Government can give a license we must first get feedback from the landowners. So the reason for this hearing is so that I can obtain your views on an application that PJV has submitted,” Mine Warden, Wapa Kopi said.
PJV also made a presentation on the weir project which it says is critical to support the ongoing economic viability and operation sustainability of the PJV operation.
Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, John Liston, said the project design and construction was simple and would involve placement of gravity feed gabion basket, construction of an access road and placement of a pipe to connect the weir to the existing Waile Creek Dam water pipeline.
The project has been designed to sit within a portion of the area of the proposed LMPA 102 tenement, an area of 5.48 hectares (ha) in size.
A final report will be furnished by the MRA and will include a Technical Assessment Report and Landowners views, and will be presented to the Mining Advisory Council (MAC) who will then recommend to the Mining Minister.