Miner wants benefits to go to locals

PORGERA Valley gold miner Barrick Niugini Ltd (BNL) wants to see benefits going to Papua New Guineans and not foreigners, its president and chief executive officer Mark Bristow says.The miner signed a framework agreement with the State and Kumul Minerals Holdings Ltd in Port Moresby two months ago.According to Bristow, the agreement provided an agreed path to the reopening of the Porgera mine.“It makes me sad to go down to the mine and see illegal miners stealing the gold,” he said. “We have to mine it together for benefit of all stakeholders.”Under the terms of the agreement, ownership of the mine will be held in a new structure, 51 per cent owned by PNG stakeholders and 49 per cent by BNL.The agreement also provided, among other things, for BNL to finance the up-front capital required to restart the mine.Of the 51 per cent equity reserved for PNG stakeholders, 36 per cent are allocated to Kumul Minerals Holdings Ltd. Mineral Resources Enga will continue to hold a five per cent interest. The additional 10 per cent interest will be held in the manner to be determined by the landowners of the Porgera mining tenements (made up of Special Mining Lease, Mining Lease, Leases for Mining Purposes and Mining Easements) in the context of discussions held at the equity forum on June 3.In addition to equity, landowners and communities will draw benefits and responsibilities from the operation of the mine through the conclusion of a multi-party agreement to be negotiated. The framework agreement also states that BNL will make a US$15 million (K52.63mil) one-time contribution to the mining tenement landowners in return for the social licence that they deliver that is necessary for the mine to operate.In addition to the US$15mil, BNL will also contribute US$3 million (K10.52mil) per year for up to 10 years to a new Porgera Sustainable Development fund that will be managed by a Porgera Development Committee.