Special Mining Lease

The Centre for Environmental Law Community Rights Inc. is concerned that while the PNG Investment and Mining Conference is being held in Sydney to discuss the economic future of the country, the situation back in PNG is that an interim injunction has been imposed on the Wafi Golpu project, which restricts or covers any further negotiations and discussions regarding the mining lease for this project.

CELCOR is calling on the Prime Minister, the Mining Minister and the National Executive Council (NEC) to take note of these facts:

The lodgment of the SML application is a step closer to reopening of the Porgera Mine in Enga Province.

Chairman of Kumul Minerals Holdings and Director of New Porgera Limited, Dr IIa Temu, hailed the lodgment of the application by NPL as a significant step towards the restart of the mine.

The workshop facilitated and funded by the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) was conducted by the PNG Institute of Banking and Business Management (IBBM) at the Kumul Lodge in Enga Province.

MRA’s Project Coordinator for Porgera Mine project, Joe Kak Ryangao, said the workshop was conducted to prepare the agents for the planned development forum and beyond, where they are expected to manage and provide good leadership and practice good governance in the running of their individual clans, especially their businesses.

“The Government’s decision was tantamount to nationalisation without due process and in violation of the Government’s legal obligations to BNL,” said the operator in a statement.

BNL said it remained willing to discuss the issue with Prime Minister James Marape and his Government in the hope of averting what it described as a catastrophic situation for the communities at Porgera and in Enga, and for the country as a whole.

The proposal has been put forward by the Constitutional Law Reform Commission (CLRC) and awaiting government approval.

This follows the experience of the Ok Tedi Mine operations and the dumping of mine tailings which have polluted the Ok Tedi and Fly River systems.

International environmentalists say the damage will last for decades, if not centuries.

If passed by Government, the law will protect another of PNG major water systems, the Sepik River, from the proposed Frieda Mine project in West Sepik.

Bryan Bailie, the Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture executive project director, and the project owner representatives Craig Jones and Johannes van Heerden, said that lodgement of the SML application represents a crucial milestone in progressing the Wafi-Golpu Project.

“The Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture has invested significant effort and resources to progress the Project exploration program and technical studies, and has engaged extensively with the local, provincial and national government, landowners and host communities and many other stakeholders,” said Bailie.