The Government has welcomed the signing of the Porgera Gold Mine Shareholders Agreement by Enga Provincial Government-owned Mineral Resources Enga (MRE) and landowners this week.
Prime Minister James Marape said it was a “milestone achievement” towards reopening of the Porgera mine, which has been closed since 2019.
Porgera Mine is currently into its third year of Care & Maintenance and restart plans is forthcoming, with the full execution of the Shareholders Agreement by Mineral Resource deal sealed.
With the Shareholders Agreement and other associated agreements signed, the first step towards restart preparations can commence with incorporation of the new project company, New Porgera Limited and submission of a new Special Mining Lease application to the Mineral Resources Authority.
Prime Minister Marape said the long-overdue reopening of the Porgera Gold Mine is finally in sight following the milestone achievement.
He added that the agreement paves the way for the Development Forum and progression towards mine reopening at the earliest.
The Prime Minister thanked Enga Provincial Government, particularly Governor Sir Peter Ipatas, and Porgera landowners, led by leader Nixon Mangape, for making this possible.
State Negotiation Team Chairman, Dairi Vele, in a statement said Kumul Minerals, Barrick are confident Porgera Mine will be open soon.
Meantime, Barrick President and CEO, Mark Bristow, when visiting the country last month was optimistic that the mine reopens before the end of the year.
He said Barrick stands ready to finalize all remaining matters to allow the restart of the Porgera Mine for the benefit of all Porgerans, especially the project-impacted landowners, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea, and BNL shareholders.