Mineral Resources Authority

The presentation was done on Monday 6^th December 2021 and was witnessed by former KBK LOA Chairman, Tobby Bare, Matthew Denguo and Raibus Group CEO, Kenny Kerry. The representatives from the LOAs travelled to Port Moresby to present their position paper.

The position paper contains collective issues affecting the LOAs from Kurumbukari, Inland Pipeline, Coastal Pipeline and Basamuk who are impacted by the giant nickel/cobalt mining operations in Madang province.

Namatanai MP Walter Schnaubelt announced this at the recent opening of the Namatanai BSP branch.

Schnaubelt said both Namatanai and Kavieng districts would review the agreement to ensure that the provincial government does not get the shares of Namatanai and Kavieng districts.

“We will not let this money go into the hands of other people.

“Since 2007 to 2021 the Lihir Royalty money totaling K412 million was being paid to the New Ireland Provincial government and yet there were no records of how these monies had been spent.

The Voluntary Resettlement Policy, the Mining project Rehabilitation and Closure Policy and the Sustainable Mining Policy were introduced in 2016 and approved to support the revised Mining Act.

“For the Mining and resettlement policy, we have learned the hardest way. When we issue a tenement or license, section 41 of policy gives exclusive occupation rights to the tenement holder. We have found out that places where relocation and resettlement exercises failed, this cost us very dearly,” he said.

The Managing Director of Mineral Resources Authority, Jerry Garry revealed this at the recent Community Affairs and Media Workshop run by the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum in Port Moresby this week.

“This is one of the highest export revenue by commodity and is only comparable to the PNG LNG. When PNGLNG was first exported in, 2014 has matched the export revenue for the mining sector.

Mining Minister, Johnson Tuke said this during his address of the Southern Regional Consultation forum presentation of the Mine and Works (Safety and Health) Bill 2021 in Port Moresby.

“We do not have any policy guidelines for quarries or for alluvial mining.

“The launch of alluvial mining comes with social impacts on the livelihood of people, at the same time, it is coming with environmental impact on the people. Do we have the policy to manage this environmental damage? It is an extractive industry.

Managing Director of the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA), Jerry Garry, said the amendment was proposed on the back of considerations the country is  missing out on revenue opportunities through tax collection.

He said PNG’s tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio is very low at 13.7 percent.

The Alliance of Solwara Warriors yesterday submitted their demurral on Exploration License 1196 to the MRA.

Speaking to this newsroom, Namatanai representative, Jonathan Mesulam, said they have again and will continue to oppose Nautilus Mineral Inc’s seabed mining project in New Ireland.

This follows the temporary halt on production after an arson attack by landowners which resulted in millions of kina worth of damages.

K92 announced that following the resolution, full return to production was expected by October.

The arson attack was a result of discontent by the Bilimoia Interim Landowner Association (BILA) who claimed outstanding issues had not been settled by the company.

The Mineral Resources Authority states that the issues have stalled return to production under new owners Asidokona.

This is five months after the revised Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed between the State and Asidokona for the re-birth of production.

The signing was snubbed by landowners who are still crying foul over outstanding issues.

During the signing, Asidokona Executive Director, Vincent Siow, boldly stated that Tolukuma would return to full production in July this year.

That, however has not eventuated.

Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) Managing Director, Philip Samar, said a series of consultations will take place before the actual review process begins.

Currently, MRA is brokering resolutions to an eight-point petition that the Bilimoia Interim Landowner Association (BLA), which represents landowners from the mine site, want addressed.

MRA stepped in to address the petition following the arson attack on mining equipment by locals last week, forcing mine operator K92 Mining Inc to temporarily shut down production.