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Press Review: Mining in the South Pacific

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Press Review: Mining in the South Pacific Press review: Mining in the South Pacific Vol. 6, No. 3, May – June 2014, 135 pages Compilation: Dr. Roland Seib, Hobrechtstr. 28, 64285 Darmstadt, Germany http://www.roland-seib.de/mining.html Copyright: The material is copyrighted by the media and authors quoted. Abbreviations in common use: BCL: Bougainville Copper Limited LNG: Liquid Natural Gas PIR: Pacific Islands Report PNG: Papua New Guinea Websites: Pacific Islands Report: http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/graphics.shtml PNG Post-Courier: http://www.postcourier.com.pg PNG The National. http://www.thenational.com.pg ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PNG Resource Owners Federation backs resource proposal BY GRACE AKUA SALMANG, Post-Courier, June 30, 2014 THE Resource Owners Federation of PNG strongly supports proposals made by various ministers and other members of parliament to return mineral and petroleum ownership rights to customary landowners. Federation president Jonathan Paraia said in a statement that the return of ownership rights is expected of this current government by the people of this country and the international community. He said the ownership rights were stolen from indigenous owners by the state during the process of colonisation. “Although the Papua New Guinea Constitution prohibits the state’s achievement of property without fair compensation, the state has continued to possess the rights without making provision in its laws for compensation for the mineral rights. “The international community, through the United Nations General Assembly, in its declaration on the rights of the in- digenous peoples of the world in 2007, requires all member countries, including Papua New Gui- nea, to endorse and adhere to the declaration.” 2 He said according to article 26 of the declaration, it is required of the state to return land and re- source ownership rights stolen in the process of colonisation. “The time is now right to protect the indigenous customary landowners and their resources, since non-indigenous people, including refu- gees and multi-billionaires, are now taking up citizenship in this country. “It is time to change the laws and policies that have and continue to divert the cash flows from our resource development projects to enrich overseas shareholders.” He said the customary landowners of this country are sig- nificant owners of natural resource capital worth trillions and trillions of dollars, yet they end up impoverished beggars on their own land because of the bad laws and policies. “Look at them in Porgera, Misima, Ok Tedi, Lihir, Kutubu and others across this nation and these laws are racist and unjust,” Mr Paraia said. Minister: Barrick should enter MoA The National, 27th of June, 2014 Mining Minister Byron Chan has urged the developer of the multi-million kina Porgera mine in Enga, Barrick Gold Ltd, to be a party to the Porgera memorandum of agreement review. This comes after Barrick refused to be a party to the MoA thus, becoming mere observers in the negotiations which did not go well with the landowners. “I want to see a good working relationship between Barrick, landowners and Enga provincial government and its stakeholders. More importantly the landowners,” Chan said. He said this following a meeting held recently in Port Moresby between the State, landowners, the Enga provincial government and Barrick. Chan said a meaningful dialogue between the landowners and Barrick should prevail in terms of the Porgera MoA. “I want to see Barrick Gold to be part of the Porgera MoA review and not as obser- vers. “This issue is outstanding at the moment and this has been my stand together with the landowners in the recently concluded Kokopo meeting,” Byron said. The agreement between the landowners, the Enga provincial government and the State includes how to address environment damages and resettlement of the landowners whose land was taken up by the mine. Chan reiterated that he stood committed with the Porgera landowners in addressing many of the issues captured in the review. Solomons Landowners Wants Security Jobs At Gold Ridge Mine Group unhappy mine gave contract to Fijian company By Daniel Namsoaua HONIARA, Solomon Islands (Solomon Star, June 26, 2014) – The Gold Ridge People’s Power Group (GRPPG) has called on the national government to disengage the Fijian security firm con- tracted to provide security at Gold Ridge mine site, central Guadalcanal. The group said the job should have been given to locals. Spokesman for the group Ribson Nunua said people of Gold Ridge are not happy with the engagement of the Fijian security firm. Mr Nunua said GRPPG is questioning why the government has allowed Gold Ridge Mining Limited to bring in this firm in- stead of engaging the local police or the local land owning tribes. He said Gold Ridge people are calling on the government to terminate the contract of the Fijian security since it does not look right to them. Mr Nunua said it does not make sense for the company to engage foreigners on a lucrative contract when it still fails to address outstanding issues of the people of Gold Ridge namely: 1. Royalty, compensation payment of Tabu sites, land rental, and grave sites. 2. Relation payment compensation and benefit (Relocation issues) 3. Relocation land tenants. 4. Fixing the tailing dam 3 5. Eradicate the chemical spill at the mine site during the flash flooding. 6. No proper consultation will landing group before given contract to Fijian security. 7. Relief Assistance April 3rd 2014 Flash flooding. "We wish to warn the government that if it fails to address these issues and listen to our concerns, we will not accept the proposed reconciliation that the government has planned with the land own- ers of Gold Ridge." Mr Nunua said they will dispute the planned 42 chupus that the government will organise for them since it failed to honour the above mentioned issues. HE added unless the government addresses these outstanding issues, any planned reconciliation by the government will be disputed. A government official said the security officers were employed by St Barbra, which owned the mine site, and not the government. The Solomon Star understands RSIPF officers are still manning the mine site alongside nine Fijian security officers. Seven more Fijians are expected to arrive yesterday. Information gathered by this paper has revealed locals living around the mine site are not happy with the way the Fijian security officers are using dogs to chase them out from the site. What is the Chamber’s position on the forthcoming review of Papua New Guinea’s 1992 Mining Act? Greg Anderson, Executive Director, Papua New Guinea Chamber of Mines and Petroleum GBR Connect Series, June 26, 2014 GA: We do have serious reservations about some of the proposed changes to the 1992 Mining Act, particularly regarding restrictions on Fly-In-Fly-Out operations and changes to state equity in mi- ning leases. Papua New Guinea’s resource sector has seen nearly a decade of strong growth, which can be largely attributable to the combination of world-class geology and a highly competitive fiscal regime. Now, as in the rest of the world, there is something of a downturn in the mining sector, which makes it the worst possible moment for a regulatory shakeup. At the moment, the national government has the right to a 30% back in to any mine, which is usually exercised at the develop- ment stage. This is already a high level of participation, but there are now calls from the more nati- onalistic voices in parliament to raise it even higher. This could have a profoundly negative impact on the country’s attractiveness as a destination for mining investment. On the other hand, tenement leases will be extended from two to five years, which is a positive development, as two years is far too short a period to make any real progress. What kind of impact do you believe the new regulations will have on the exploration sector? GA: The junior exploration sector has still not reached full maturity in Papua New Guinea, although the release of a major geophysical survey in 2010 stimulated interest from prospectors around the world. Nevertheless, global exploration levels have seen six straight quarters of decline, and raising funds on the markets today is virtually impossible. Until recently, one of our domestic exploration industry’s greatest strengths was its diversity: we had a broad cross-section of majors with the re- sources to develop large projects as well as junior companies prepared to prove up riskier prospects. However, in recent times several of the majors (Barrick, BHP Billiton and Vale) have pulled out and our junior sector has shrunk. By taking away incentives, the government runs the risk of dama- ging the exploration sector even further. How would you respond to claims that the current act is antiquated and in need of radical change? GA: It is true that certain elements of the act are out of date, and various areas are not covered at all. For example, there are no provisions for offshore mining, even though Papua New Guinea is lea- ding the world in offshore exploration and will soon see the world’s first producing seabed mine. Similarly, although mine closure systems being followed in PNG are of the highest standards, there is no section governing mine closure within the act. It is also necessary to flesh out and update some 4 of the regulations regarding social issues. However, notwithstanding these minor issues, it is a sound piece of legislation that requires some revision rather than a full-scale rewrite. In addition to its range of major mines, Papua New Guinea is also home to a vibrant small- scale mining community. How is the relationship between these two different sides of the in- dustry? GA: Papua New Guinea is blessed.
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