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AFP
Sydney
A gold mine in Papua New Guinea that generates around 10 percent of the country’s exports has suspended operations, a Canadian firm that runs it said, after the government refused to extend the 20-year-old lease on the facility.
The Southeast Asian nation’s military and police were being deployed to secure the mine in a rugged highland region beset by tribal and other violence, officials confirmed Monday.
Barrick Gold, the Canadian company that jointly runs the project in the Porgera Valley with China’s Zijin Mining Group, said over the weekend that work had ceased “temporarily” after authorities announced Friday they would move towards local ownership for the mine.
The case will be watched closely by other mining firms operating in the impoverished country as well as energy companies, whose deals with the government have often failed to yield revenues for local authorities.
The mine produced 284,000 ounces of gold in 2019 and is believed to hold as much as 3.6 million ounces.
Barrick, which had requested a 20-year extension to its lease, said the decision was “tantamount to nationalisation without due process”.
The firm promised to “pursue all legal avenues to challenge” the move and recover any damages.
In a statement over the weekend, Prime Minister James Marape defended the decision.
“The lease expired and our decision is within law,” he said.
Sydney
A gold mine in Papua New Guinea that generates around 10 percent of the country’s exports has suspended operations, a Canadian firm that runs it said, after the government refused to extend the 20-year-old lease on the facility.
The Southeast Asian nation’s military and police were being deployed to secure the mine in a rugged highland region beset by tribal and other violence, officials confirmed Monday.
Barrick Gold, the Canadian company that jointly runs the project in the Porgera Valley with China’s Zijin Mining Group, said over the weekend that work had ceased “temporarily” after authorities announced Friday they would move towards local ownership for the mine.
The case will be watched closely by other mining firms operating in the impoverished country as well as energy companies, whose deals with the government have often failed to yield revenues for local authorities.
The mine produced 284,000 ounces of gold in 2019 and is believed to hold as much as 3.6 million ounces.
Barrick, which had requested a 20-year extension to its lease, said the decision was “tantamount to nationalisation without due process”.
The firm promised to “pursue all legal avenues to challenge” the move and recover any damages.
In a statement over the weekend, Prime Minister James Marape defended the decision.
“The lease expired and our decision is within law,” he said.
