K92 mine pays K17.6mil tax after two years of production

THE K92 Mining Inc paid the first installment of corporate tax of K17.6 million (US$5.1 million) last month.
The operator of the Kainantu gold mine in Eastern Highlands said the payment was after the company made profitable operations at Kainantu in just over two years after achieving commercial production.
It had made major capital expenditure over the period to significantly expand operations.
The achievement was well ahead of schedule and reflected the company’s commitment to ensuring sharing of economic benefits from the success of the operation, which also included the payment of a 2 per cent royalty and 0.5 per cent levy to Mineral Resources Authority.
Another highlight last month it said was the “productive discussions” held in Kokopo, East New Britain, attended by all parties to the existing memorandum of agreement.
An agreement in principle was reached, including plans for a 5 per cent interest in mining lease 150 to be acquired by local landowners and the Eastern Highlands government.
Chief executive John Lewins said despite the challenges of operating during the Covid-19, K92 remained committed to advancing the Kainantu mine and delivering economic benefits to the people of Papua New Guinea.
Lewins said the long-term outlook for the mine remained positive.
“On July 27, K92 announced the results of its stage three expansion preliminary economic assessment,” he said.
“The economic study envisages the mine increasing its stage two expansion throughput of 400,000 tonnes per annum to 1 million tonnes per annum.”