Court rejects application, ‘relationship turning nasty’

THE Supreme Court has rejected an application to stay a lower court’s ruling regarding the non-renewal of a special mining licence for the Porgera mine in Enga.
Barrick Niugini Ltd (BNL) had challenged in the National Court the Government’s decision not to renew its 30-year special mining lease which expired in last August.
Deputy Chief Justice Ambeng Kandakasi recently dismissed the BNL challenge in the National Court.
On Friday, Justice Collin Makail, presiding as a single Supreme Court judge in Waigani, refused to grant a stay in favour of BNL pending its appeal.
Makail, in his eight-page judgment, refused to grant stay because the relationship between the parties had become obnoxious and broken down.
“It is in the interest of justice that the present status quo be maintained,” Justice Makail said.
BNL, the plaintiff in the matter, named Registrar of Tenements Stanley Nekitel, chairman of the Mining Advisory Council Jerry Garry, Mineral Resources Authority, Mining Minister Johnson Tuke, Prime Minister James Marape, the State, Mineral Resources Enga and Deputy Prime Minister and Attorney-General Davis Steven as respondents in the case.
Justice Makail said it was arguably the first time a decision had been made by the executive Government to part ways with a developer in a mining project in the country after 30 years of operation
“It would appear that the executive Government has made a decision to move on,” he said.
“The respondents led by solicitor-general (Tauvasa Tanuvasa) strongly contended that events have overtaken the appeal and a grant of stay would serve no useful purpose because the NEC (National Executive Council) had made a subsequent decision to grant a SML (special mining lease) over the land on which the mine is located to Kumul Minerals Holdings Ltd (KMHL) on Aug 25.
“This is the latest turn of events and can be viewed as the State’s further act of parting ways with Barrick.
“This latest decision has now put Barrick in a position where it must now not only challenge the decision to refuse to extend the SML but also the grant of a SML to KMHL.
“This decision has apparently been gazetted to take effect.
“At the end of the day, these turn of events reinforces the view that the respondents are unwilling to reverse the first decision taken by the NEC and the relationship between the parties at worst has become obnoxious and broken down to the point of no return.
“And it would not be in the interests of justice that the unwilling party be ordered to maintain the relationship.”
BNL’s substantive is still before the Supreme Court.