New fund to drive benefits for New Ireland locals

THE newly-established Lihir Investment Fund (LIF) will manage and drive the savings component of the Lihir people’s financial benefits derived from the Lihir gold mine in Namatanai, New Ireland, an official says.
Mineral Resource Lihir Capital (MRLC) Ltd chief executive officer Lawrence Rausim said monetary landowner benefits included 20 per cent of their mine royalties, inconvenience and land-use payments among others.
These are from the 30 per cent paid to the Lihir Mining Area Landowners Association (LMALA) Financial Savings Plan or scheme captured under the original Integrated Benefits Package (IBP) Agreement, revised to become the Lihir Sustainable Development Plan (LSDP).
Rausim said non-Lihirians could also be part of LIF, which was officially launched on Lihir island on Thursday.
MRLC is the landowner investment company headquartered in Port Moresby with branches in Australia and on Lihir island.
“Any Lihirian and non-Lihirian entity or beneficiary can elect to contribute their savings to the LIF and acquire an interest in the unit trust,” he said.
“As an example, the Lihir Mining Area Landowners Association (LMALA) Funds comprising primarily of block holders and Putput inconvenience savings, currently managed by MRL Capital, would be transferred to the LIF.”
MRL Funds Management Limited (MRL Funds Management) is the trustee and manager of the LIF and is responsible for managing the assets and overseeing the operations of the LIF.
MRL Funds Management is a wholly owned subsidiary of MRL Capital Ltd (MRL) which is the trustee and manager of the Lihirians Equity Trust (“the LET”).
MRL Funds Management currently has two Capital Market Licences, a Trustee Licence and a Funds Manager licence, both granted and issued by the Securities Commission of Papua New Guinea pursuant to the Capital Market Act 2015, after undergoing a fairly stringent vetting process.
While it is expected that the initial investors in LIF will be persons with savings from the LET, LMALA and other Lihirian-owned entities and Lihirian individual investors, the Fund will be open to PNG resident investors at the discretion of the Trustee.