Porgera to start in April

The National Business

By PETER ESILA
Porgera mine operation in Enga is expected to start in April following the signing of the starting agreement by the Government and Barrick Niugini Ltd (BNL) on Friday.
Prime Minister James Marape said it would be followed by the operatorship agreement, fiscal stability agreement and the shareholder agreement.
“This is a milestone in our journey towards reopening the Porgera gold mine and for it to be in operation for the next 20 years,” he said.
The commencement agreement formalises the terms of the commercial and financial arrangements contained in the framework agreement signed in April.
The terms include that:

  • PNG stakeholders and BNL will share the economic benefits generated over the mine life on a 53/47 per cent basis;
  • BNL will finance the capital required to restart the mine;
  • AN increase in equity will be allocated to landowners who are the customary owners of the land where Porgera is located; and
  • THE State will retain the right to acquire the remaining 49 per cent of the mine from BNL at fair market value after 10 years.

The Government and BNL will continue negotiations to ensure remaining conditions required for the restart of operations at Porgera can be reached quickly.
Barrick Gold senior vice-president Woo Lee said the 1,000 employees kept on during the care and maintenance period were doing all the preparations.
“We are investing funds within the description of the care and maintenance so that when all the agreements are done, we can fire up and get started as soon as possible.”