The Autonomous Bougainville Government has stated that it and landowners from the Panguna mine area have reached a joint resolution to re-open the Panguna copper-gold mine. The joint resolution was signed by clan chiefs and representatives from the five major clans of the Panguna area – Basikang, Kurabang, Bakoringu, Barapang and Mantaa. The signing took place at the end of a three-day summit for the Panguna Landowner groups hosted in Tunuru, Central Bougainville.
ABG President Hon. Ishmael Toroama acknowledged and congratulated the five clans and their respective leadership for taking the bold stand to re-open the Panguna mine. He said the signing of the joint resolutions signifies the beginning of a new chapter for Bougainville. “Today marks the ending and the beginning of a new chapter, a chapter to realise Bougainville’s independence,” he said.
President Toroama reassured the landowners that the government will continue to be there to protect the people and their resources through relevant laws passed through the Bougainville Parliament. He urged the landowners to continue to use the government as a tool to control what rightfully belongs to the people in terms of resources. The Toroama-Nisira government is confident that the re-opening of the Panguna mine will be a major booster for Bougainville’s economic future and at the same time, guarantee Bougainville’s political independence.
Following the signing of the joint resolutions, the ABG through the Department of Mineral and Energy Resources and other relevant departments, “will work together with the landowner groups to facilitate the process towards the re-opening of the mine.”
A key stakeholder in the future of Panguna is Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL), an independently-managed company of Papua New Guinea and the successor to the original operating company that is publicly listed on the ASX. Bougainville Copper says its main objective is to work cooperatively towards realising the vision of resuming active exploration and sustainable copper, gold and silver mining at Panguna, in central Bougainville, after mining ceased in 1989. The people of PNG and Bougainville have a significant stake in Bougainville Copper, with the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) holding a 36.4% in the company, as does the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, also with 36.4%. This followed the departure of Rio Tinto in mid-2016.
In a statement, BCL said it was not involved in the landowner summit, nor was it referenced in the ABG article. It added: “There is no change in the status of the shareholdings of the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) and Papua New Guinea Government (GovPNG) shareholdings in BOC. The GovPNG’s commitment to transfer their shares to the ABG remains pending and both Governments continue to hold 36.4% each, of the shares in BCL. The Judicial Review of the ABG’s decision not to renew the Exploration licence over Panguna remains in process and we anticipate proceedings to commence in the first quarter of 2022.”
Bougainville is located some 800 km east of Papua New Guinea in the Solomon Sea. As detailed by BOC, following the discovery of vast copper ore deposits in Crown Prince Range, Bougainville Copper Ltd (Bougainville Copper or the company) operated a large open pit mine and processing facility at Panguna in central Bougainville in the North Solomon’s Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) between 1972 and 1989. The mine produced copper concentrate that also contained significant quantities of gold and silver. On 15th May 1989 production was brought to a halt by militant activity and the mine has remained closed since. In the 17 years prior to 1989, the mine produced concentrate containing 3 Mt of copper, 306 t of gold and 784 t of silver. The production had a value of 5.2 billion Kina (K) which represented approximately 44% of Papua New Guinea’s exports over that period.
On 1 July 2016, Bougainville Copper Ltd’s major shareholder, Rio Tinto, transferred its 53.8% shareholding to independent trustees for the subsequent transfer of ownership to the PNG and Bougainville governments. As a result, 72.8% of BCL’s shares are now collectively owned by the Independent State of Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Government. Each has a 36.4% stake in BCL. The remaining shares are owned by public and institutional investors.
Photo credit: Chris Uma