Hidden Valley Mine

Harmony Gold staff from the Hidden Valley mine in Bulolo district made the long drive to present the items to the Lae Cancer Treatment Centre.

The cervical cancer screening items included 13 rapid Pap smear kits, 1,000 cytology sterile brush and 200 microscopic glass slides.

When presenting the items, Hidden Valley’s superintendent community engagement from the community affairs department, Benjamin Kamaya, said this was made possible through staff involvement. 

The families used fires, kerosene lamps, torches and candles for light in the evenings and were not able to complete many important daily tasks due to the lack of safe and effective lighting options.

The rollout of the solar lighting project was carried out by the mine’s community affairs department to assist with the quality of life for families in the three communities.

They met with Prime Minister James Marape to emphasise the company’s continued commitment to invest and grow in PNG.

Harmony’s financial director, Boipelo Lekubo, and senior group executive – enterprise risk and investor relations, Marian van der Walt, spoke of Harmony’s investment in PNG since 2004 and the company’s pursuit of multiple opportunities in the Morobe Province, of which the Wafi-Golpu Project is one.

The group comprised of locals from the three impacted villages of Nauti, Kuembu and Winima in Morobe Province.

On Friday, 8^th of April, the group chained the gate at Manki Tower, demanding that the mine operator explain why they have not received their royalty payments for three months now.

They claim no notice was given by Harmony Gold regarding the January to March payment.

Morobe Consolidated Goldfields (MCG) Ltd, in response, said they make monthly royalty payments to landowner groups based on production from the previous month.

Gilbert Musau became Hidden Valley Mine’s mine technical services principal in November last year as part of this process.

Musau witnessed a lot of change during his eight years of employment with HVM, saying, “The mining industry is dynamic and the company is very keen on its investment here despite the many challenges that come with operating in a geographically harsh environment.

“It is important to the business that everyone gets an opportunity to be part of the mine’s success story.”

The items will be used to boost the district’s response to Covid-19 and general health, and were handed over to District Health Manager Logan Yakam, and representatives of local health centres by Geoffrey Fahey, Manager, Social Performance and Communities. Fred Lelesi, Acting Bulolo Police Station Commander was also present to witness the donation.

This makes it easier for landowners and community members to discuss matters relating to the mine with Community Affairs staff.

“We’re very focused on being in touch with our communities, especially the mine villages which are Nauti, Kuembu, and Winima. It’s important to us that they are engaged and properly informed on the mine’s operations, and for us to be abreast of issues they have,” said Geoffrey Fahey, Manager, Social Performance and Communities.

All these follow the spike in revenue by 16 percent to $374 million (K1.1 billion), compared to the previous quarter.

According to mining.com, the world’s fifth largest producer of minerals halved its net debt from US$74 million to US$38 million, after paying a dividend of US$16 million, and has raised the prospect it could be debt-free by the beginning of the 2017 calendar year.

The mine is located in the Morobe Province.

Newcrest Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Sandeep Biswas stated in the company’s September report that “Newcrest has completed the sale of its 50 per cent share of Hidden Valley to Harmony following receipt of South African Regulatory approval. The economic effective date for the transaction is 31 August 2016; accordingly the operational results shown are for the July-August period only.”

Newcrest is an Australian company and operates the Lihir gold mine in New Ireland Province.

Following the fatality at Hidden Valley on 18 July 2015, operations were suspended while an investigation was completed and all critical controls for high-risk tasks were identified and reviewed.

A Hidden Valley Joint Venture employee was fatally injured in an accident  on a road at the Hidden Valley mine site.

Mining activities restarted on August 20 and processing activities partially recommenced on August 23, ramping up to full production rates thereafter.