Act to be amended for benefits

By NATHAN WOTI
THE Government will amend the Mining Act to ensure accountability and transparency in the mining industry, and to receive 10 per cent royalty at the start of any new deal, says Mining Minister Muguwa Dilu.
“We are now looking at the mining act and areas where we can amend to allow for accountability and transparency to ensure all the parties involved get a better deal out of any mining activities in our country,” he said.
“As the resource owner, the Government believes that the people of Papua New Guinea deserve a much better deal from all the mining activities in the country and for upcoming projects to agree to.
“We are now looking at increasing landowner royalty to 10 per cent from the current two per cent, and the State should get 10 per cent at the beginning of any deals in the future.
“We are also looking at the fiscal regime. This needs to be changed because it is now over 50 years.
“We must look into this and create an avenue where resource owners as well the investors can be able to have an equal share in the deal.
“All these important amendments in the mining act will be tabled in the parliament sitting next month,” Dilu said.
He added that last year when OTML had announced that the mine’s life would be extended to 2050 and a potential future income of K30 billion, it was the Government that decided to renew the Special Mining Lease for OK Tedi because the old SML had expired.
The granting of the new SML would now allow OTML to continue operations for the long term.
Meanwhile, the Mining Minister Dilu mentioned that OTML was performing better as a State Owned Enterprise mining company.
“The OK Tedi mine has been operating for 33 long years. OTML as a SOE has been operating for 22 years. We have history, we have experience, and as a business, the future is just fine,” Dilu said.
He urged OTML to consider going into the following space:

• OTML to operate another mine outside of Western.
• OTML to go international. Operate in another country with the same or better resources that it can open up another mining project; and,
• Downstream processing. Starting serious conversation on refining copper onshore and export the finished product to markets overseas.