Miner plans to appeal court ruling

The National National

BARRICK Niugini Ltd (BNL) plans to appeal a court decision which dismissed its application for a judicial review of the non-extension by the Government of a special mining lease for Porgera.
The company said in a statement yesterday it disagreed with some of the grounds in the ruling by Deputy Chief Justice Ambeng Kandakasi in the National Court.
BNL, the operator of the gold mine since 2006, had applied for an extension of the mining lease in 2017. It was rejected by the Government last year. The special mining lease also expired last year.
The company claimed that the dismissal was not based on the substantive grounds it had advanced in its application for judicial review.
“BNL considers any such grant of SML 11 to Kumul Minerals Holdings Limited to be unlawful and invalid under the laws of PNG, and the company intends to take steps to challenge the purported grant.”

One thought on “Miner plans to appeal court ruling”

  • Once the Special Mining Lease expired, go by what is there in law. I believe if the government is happy then it can renew the lease but if the govt. is reluctant than there are reasons to it. So BNL should not exert pressure on the PNG government to have its way.

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