State, Korea ink deal

 THE State and Korea has  signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate in the field of sustainable development in the mining sector.

The Mineral Resources Authority signed the deal with Korea’s government agency, Mine Reclamation Corporation (MIRECO) during the third meeting of the PNG-Korea Joint Committee on Energy and Resources held in Port Moresby last Friday.  The scope of cooperation between the parties under the agreement includes:

• Supporting the establishment of a mine reclamation/rehabilitation system;
• strengthen the mutual partnership in the field of mine reclamation/rehabilitation;
• promote an interchange of technical personnel between the parties; and,
• Engage in any other cooperation activities which are agreed upon by the parties

MRA managing director Philip Samar said a PNG committee comprising representatives of relevant government departments and agencies would be formed to discuss the finer details to the agreed activities.

The proposed plan is to conduct these mine reclamation and rehabilitation studies on Misima (now closed), Ok Tedi and Tolukuma before rolling it out to the other operating mines. This will demonstrate the government’s commitment to responsible environmental and mining stewardship.

Samar said the country would benefit from Korea as they had a proven track record of technical experience in the area of sustainably managing environmental impacts of huge projects.