Mayur Resources

Samantha Kuman, Advocacy Officer at the Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights Inc., said: “Mayur’s plan to create Mayur Renewables to focus on solar, wind, hydro and geothermal power is an important step, but it also needs to reverse its decision to create a coal industry in PNG.

“The Australian company must move away from coal if PNG is to avoid the most disastrous effects of climate change.

“We are already facing severe droughts, floods and rising sea levels.

The request was made in an open letter by the Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELC) of Jabem District, Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights (CELCOR) and Jubilee Australia Research Centre.

Addressed to incoming directors, Charles Fear and Chris Indermaur, the civil society organisations (CSOs) asked that Mayur Resources includes reassessment of its planned mining and coal-fired power projects in PNG in its upcoming strategic review.

Lockyer, whose name is synonymous with Australian rugby league, is also attached with an exploration and energy firm that is currently eyeing coal production in PNG.

The company is Mayur Resources Ltd where Lockyer heads its business affairs division.

Among those concerned Papua New Guineans was environmentalist and Northern Governor, Gary Juffa.

“This is a grave insult to PNG but most won’t realise it,” Juffa commented under an earlier article by Loop PNG.

The company announced in the Australia Stock Exchange early this month that high resolution imagery recorded by the survey will be processed to deliver an accurate, gridded digital terrain model at both Depot Creek and Orokolo Bay in Gulf Province.

This will enable accurate resourcing and reserving work to be completed. 

Soroi Eoe, who is also Minister for Community Development, Youth & Religion, said since Mayur Resources began operations in country and more so in their plans for the Kikori District, in Gulf Province, “the company hasn’t initiated any dialogue with my office nor had the courtesy to consult me on my views regarding coal development”.

Mayur Resources has rights to explore a 120 km stretch of land in Gulf Province, close to the Purari and Vailala rivers.

“Out of the 120 kms we have under tenure, we’ve only drilled the first 1.5 kilometres and that coal is enough to generate a 50 megawatt power station for the next 30 years,’ Chief Executive Officer Paul Mulder tells Business Advantage PNG.

“If we’re to keep drilling as we intend to, the next five, 10, 15 kilometres will show there’s going to be tens of millions of tonnes of coal there.