Marape wants Ok Tedi to maintain operations

PRIME Minister James Marape wants the Ok Tedi gold and copper mine in the Western to maintain operations in an environment-sustainable way.
Marape commented when he and his delegation of ministers, governors, MPs, departmental heads and managing directors of State-owned enterprises toured the Ok Tedi gold and copper mine site yesterday.
During the visit, Marape urged the employees and the management to keep the life of the mine going for more years so it continued employment and earned revenue for the country.
He assured everyone that their hard work of generating revenue would not be a waste as his Government would make sure the funds were used properly and transparently to improve the lives of people.
Marape said he was very impressed to see a complete overhaul of the mine facilities, including the construction of modern facilities (the crusher replacement project) at a cost of US$240 million (K792mil).
Ok Tedi spent almost one third of the cost of the facility in the country, with materials assembled at the Motukea Port in Port Moresby.
The new crushing facility will be commissioned by mid-2020.
The new crusher crusher will replace the old one which is about 30 years old and is ageing and it will be decommissioned and taken down when the new one is commissioned in July next year.