Lihir

Dubbed the ‘Trupla-man, Trupla-meri’ Tournaments after its anti-violence brand, four different sports competitions will be held for the 4,500 workforce of the Lihir Mine.

During its launching, general manager mining & processing, Michael Drake, said the wellbeing of employees and business partners is fundamental to the success of the Lihir operation. This is why the management encourages and supports activities and initiatives that invest in the safety and welfare of the workforce.

This is expected to further enhance and strengthen Papua New Guinea’s position as one of the top twenty gold and copper producing countries in the world.

“The country is rich in minerals. It ranks in the top 20 world gold and copper producers and also produces silver, nickel and cobalt,” the report said.

“Mining in PNG dates back to 1888, with the modern mining industry developing in the mid-1960s.

“During the reporting period, eight mines were operating in Papua New Guinea, distributed over a number of provinces,”

Acting General Manager, Stephen Perkins, when opening the Mine Safety Week in Lihir on Monday, March 27, said  this was vital for the mines operations.

Perkins said a healthy lifestyle must begin with choices.

“PNG has a population of more than seven million people. The life expectancy here is 61-65 years. Good news is we can improve on that by making positive choices. The Mine Safety Week here in Lihir is about creating more awareness on what these choices are. We must be willing to make positive choices that will result in positive changes,” he said.

The partnership was made possible through Telstra’s new 100 megabits per second (Mbps) satellite link to the Lihir gold mine in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea.

The new medium-earth-orbit (MEO) satellite link, which has increased bandwidth to Lihir by over 600 per cent, is the result of a partnership between Newcrest, Telstra and satellite service provider O3b Networks.

“Newcrest is proud to make use of this innovative new service to significantly improve the network experience at Lihir”, said Chief Information Officer, Gavin Wood.

Ward Three Member of the Nimamar Local Level Government, Clement Zanayes, said this following road construction works carried out in their local constituency.

His comments follow negotiations with Lihir Mine operators, Newcrest Mining Limited, on the construction of a road running through Lipuko and Matakues villages, which fall under Nimamar LLG.

Zanayas led negotiations for road works to be diverted and avoid destroying an existing burial site at Matakues, and have it released to the community as the existing road was built over some graveyards.

In a statement, Newcrest says it is deeply saddened by this incident and staff are working with the management of Hidden Valley to understand the circumstances.

The gold mining company said an investigation is underway.

The company expressed  condolences and support for the employee’s family, friends and colleagues at the Hidden Valley operation, during this difficult time.

This will be the second incident in little over a month where a Newcrest mine in the country has been forced to suspend production.

Major domestic ports such as Lae, Mt Hagen and Rabaul will not be affected.

The airline industry around the world is moving towards modern and smarter practices to remain competitive within an ever changing economic and technological environment.

To this end, Air Niugini is also getting on board to embrace a change in the way it conducts its business.