Lease, licence transferred

By SHIRLEY MAULUDU
BARRICK (Niugini) Ltd and Kumul Minerals Holdings Ltd (KMHL) have transferred the special mining lease (SML) and exploration licence (EL) for the Porgera project to New Porgera Ltd (NPL).

This took place on Friday.
KMHL chairman Dr Ila Temu said this process fulfilled what the parties had agreed to during signing of New Porgera Progress Agreement last month.
“This work that is now being signed off is a very important part of the process to get Porgera (gold project) going because this transfer of SML that Kumul Mineral holds, we call it SML 11, was issued some time back,” Dr Temu said.
“The reason why that transfer is working that way is because that licence needs to be surrendered.
“For the surrender process, that was the part that was agreed to by the parties – to have it transferred between Kumul Minerals to New Porgera, and then New Porgera will then surrender that SML.
“The other important paper is called the EL 454.
That was the exploration licence that had the Porgera SML issued on.
“You can’t have an SML issued, without the underlying exploration licence.
“That exploration licence belongs to Barrick Niugini Ltd and they have decided to transfer that EL to New Porgera Ltd as part of the consolidation.
“Once the New Porgera Ltd has received that EL, the company will then apply for the new SML after it surrenders SML 11.
“The parties have agreed that the SML 11 has to be surrendered and a new SML applied for.
“That is the process that is going to occur with the signing of these two important documents.”
Temu added that the application for the transfers would be submitted to the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) on Friday.
“According to advice we have received, the new SML application will go in sometime next week and once its goes in, there is a process within the MRA that processes that application,” he said.
Normally it should take about six months or more, but we have given the urgency of reopening Porgera, there is an effort by the regulator to process that, as quickly as possible.
“The amount of time we have been told is about two months.
“Within two months, hopefully the new SML is issued and then the rest of the agreement like the mining development contract need to be signed off after the SML is issued and the environment transfer because the environmental permit was issued to the old SML.
“So it has to be transferred from the old SML to the new SML that will be issued.
“That will complete the process.”