Samb clears air on mining delay

THE operator of the Tolukuma Gold Mine Limited in Central has been delaying operations for the past two years because a business partner was pulling out, according to Goilala MP William Samb.
He said the Asidokona Mining Resources Pty Limited was to have restarted the mine which Central was a shareholder in.
In a statement, Samb said the delay had caused inconvenience to the company management in settling outstanding salaries of employees and resuming the operations at the mine.
The Tolukuma Gold Mine Limited is under care maintenance.
This was revealed during a recent meeting Samb had with Asidokona’s executive director Vincent Siow who confirmed the challenges.
Samb said a stakeholders’ meeting to be held this month will be to revise the agreement. They will discuss the production phase, scale of the mine, construction of the road from Doa to Tolukuma, establishment of the infrastructure development committee, and proper landowner business plans.
“Siow has assured that Asidokona is here to stay and continue with operation of the mine despite the few challenges,” Samb said.
“One of those will be to build a road linking Tolukuma to Port Moresby so it can cut back on the high operational costs.”