Stop work resolved

ANOTHER attempt at stopping work at the Kapit North Stockpile area on Lihir Island was resolved last Tuesday by landowners of the open pit gold mining project.
This followed the first one on Aug 14 by a rebel group working in isolation from the genuine landowners group incorporated under the Lihir Mining Area Landowners Association (LMALA).
While these attempts have been ongoing, progress had been made on the acquisition of machinery by the Kapit North stockpile landowners to mine the stockpile.
A grader was handed over to the Kapit landowners last Tuesday afternoon.
The acquisition of the machinery was made possible through a K6 million payment given to Sarberte Limited by Lihir Gold Limited (LGL) on July 29.
The K6 million will be invested in a financial institution and, through the leverage system, Saberte Limited would have access to increased funding for investment purposes in plants and equipment, rental accommodation, vehicle hire and earthmoving equipment.
Opportunities also exist for family companies to have access to funding through the leverage system for similar investment purposes.
LGL executive general manager (operations) Noel Foley confirmed his company’s agreement with LMALA and its commercial arm, Anitua Ltd and Anitua Mining Services.
LGL would only deal with the legitimate landowners association named in the legal benefits agreements, namely LMALA, and its commercial arms, he said.