HVJV pumps K520m into PNG economy

THE Hidden Valley Joint Venture project in Morobe province pumped close to K520 million into the economy of Papua New Guinea this year.
The spending breakup was as follows: Goods and services in Morobe – 56%; goods and services in PNG – 27%; government tax – 6%; employment – 6%; community benefits – 3%; and royalties – 2%.
This was revealed at the mining and petroleum seminar by deputy general manager Peter Hannigan.
Hidden Valley is a joint venture between Australian miner New­crest Mining Ltd and South African miner Harmony Gold.
It is managed by Morobe Mining Joint Venture (MMJV).
The partners had planned to pay out K21 million yearly in wages and benefits; K26 million yearly on royalties and K15 million for benefit-sharing and other community assistance.
Its community projects during its 14-year mine life sought to provide for capacity building, rural electrification, health, education, agriculture and aquaculture, mine village infrastructure, roads and bridges, water supply.
These were all within budget, Hannigan said.
He said there were two open pit mine sites at the project – Hidden Valley and Hamata – with a process plant to recover gold and silver at Hamata.
Gold ore from Hidden Valley was being fed by a conveyor belt.
Hannigan said at the moment, silver was making good money on the world market, which was a good sign for the joint venture.
There were engineered tailings dam to contain mine tailings, which was fast becoming the only large-scale tailings storage facility in PNG.
Hannigan said there was no mine processing residues or tailings, which were being discharged into the environment.
Its waste dump strategy was to have the waste engineered and cover up to allow re-vegetation to occur.
Hidden Valley has an average annual production of 250,000 ounces of gold and 3.6 million ounces of silver on a 14-year mine life.
Its total ore reserves for this year showed 68,192 tonnes, with proved ore reserves of 60,674 tonnes and probable ore reserves of 61,519 tonnes.
The mine currently has 975 direct HVJV employees of which 45% are from Morobe and 1,471 contractor-employees with 45% also from Morobe.
HVJV was building up its production post-commissioning, with exploration tenements already representing a world-class mineral resource-base and growing.
It had involved a wider inclusive stakeholder engagement processes, with environmental programmes established and was investing in suitable community development with focus on development of PNG leaders and providing a foundation for success and growth of a long- term business in PNG.