BCL hosts first Buka meeting

Business

THE Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) marked its return to Bougainville by holding its first board meeting there in more than 27 years.
Board chairman Robert Burns, Sir Rabbie Namaliu, Dame Carol Kidu and Sir Moi Avei were joined in Buka by members of company’s management team. BCL has established an office in Buka and appointed Ephraim Eminoni to manage the team.
Burns said it was a new dawn for BCL as an independently-managed PNG company following Rio Tinto’s in the middle of 2016.
PNG citizens, including Bougainvilleans, are among the shareholders. The main ones are the Autonomous Bougainville Government and the Government.
“The Buka board meeting was a historic moment for us as a company and demonstrates our high level of commitment to Bougainville going forward,” Burns said.
The BCL board and senior management separately met with President John Momis and Vice-President Raymond Masono to discuss important issues regarding the Panguna redevelopment plan.
“We certainly appreciate the ABG’s ongoing support and the fact they strongly re-stated their position regarding a new Panguna mining project with BCL as its developer,” Burns said.
The company continues to build relationships with landowners from project areas and met representatives from the nine landowner associations who were in Buka for their bi-monthly meeting.