Alluvial mining lease deal clarified

CITIZENS are required to have a majority stake in all joint-venture projects that have mining leases for alluvial purposes, according to Mineral Resources Authority (MRA).
It said this when explaining the distinctions between its leases and relevant laws these were based on.
Mining lease for alluvial purposes can also be held by citizens.
This may be of a term of up to 20 years and can be extended for 10 years.
Joint ventures or citizens are required to operate over an area under 60 square kilometres in a rectangular or polygonal shape which has been marked out or surveyed.
Applicants for this lease will also have to submit proposals for development.
They have to prove a resource to support the term, area and operation while also stating their technical and financial capacity.
They will also have to secure a permit from the Conservation and Environmental Protection Agency while being subjected to do monthly production and royalty reporting.
The mining lease comes before a large-scale alluvial mining operation and could be subjected to a development forum and benefit-sharing agreement, at the mining minister’s discretion.
This lease is for a larger-scale operation and is more highly regulated then mining carried out under the alluvial mining lease.
It is also worth noting that the Mining Act allows for non-mechanised alluvial mining which is the least-regulated form of alluvial mining.
Said MRA: “Non-mechanised alluvial mining accounts for the greatest number of persons involved in the sector. Alluvial mining is undertaken in most areas of Papua New Guinea, of 10 isolated rural areas. Those operating under the Section 9 (MRA Act) reservation do not require to be regulated by any formal process, unless they breach the simple requirements.”