Govt, Wafi-Golpu to start talk

By GYNNIE KERO
THE Government will soon enter into discussions with joint venture partners of the K17 billion Wafi-Golpu project in Morobe, Prime Minister James Marape says.
He said the Government had concluded its issues with the Morobe government.
“Government will now enter into discussions with Wafi-Golpu and we are bringing into conclusion our issues with the Morobe government,” Marape said.
“As a Government (national government and Morobe government) we will sit as one and go into discussion with both Harmony and Newcrest,” Marape told a media conference on Tuesday.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the project had been signed by the previous government with the project partners – Australia’s Newcrest and South Africa’s Harmony Gold last December.
The state is expected to acquire 51 per cent of the revenue as announced during the signing.
It was also expected that the initial capital investment would be around K9.1 billion, with total capital expenditure expected to be around K17.4 billion over the estimated 28-year life of the mine.
The project was expected to create around 2,500 direct jobs during construction, about 850 ongoing operation jobs and further indirect employment in Mamose.
Marape told the conference that the Government was looking into the Special Mining Lease of the Porgera gold mine which expired on Aug 16.
“We are looking into Porgera lease that has expired,” he said.
Porgera is one of the largest mines in the country, it has paid more than K4.3 billion in taxes and royalties over the past 30 years.