Chamber commends mine’s restart

 THE PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum has commended Ok Tedi Mining Ltd on the restart of operations at the giant mine in Western. 

The chamber said in an email to The National that the decision by the OTML board and management to suspend operations last year when the El Nino drought started was a good decision based on the 1997 experience. 

“The temporary closure has given management an excellent opportunity to restructure the whole operation, as well as do some major maintenance programs” the chamber said.

“With a much leaner and meaner structure, the Chamber believes that the mine can be profitable by the end of the year, even at current copper/gold prices.”

It said Ok Tedi was a significant contributor to the economy so the announcement of the mine’s resumption was good news for Western and the country.