‘Be bold and take considered risks’: K92’s John Lewins shares his advice for junior explorers
John Lewins oversaw the rise of Kainantu into one of Papua New Guinea’s most consistently profitable mines during his tenure as CEO of K92 Mining. Now K92’s Non-Executive Chair, he shares his advice for explorers seeking to discover PNG’s next major mineral resource.
K92 Mining’s John Lewins. Credit: K92 Mining.
Papua New Guinea has an extraordinary mineral endowment, particularly in copper and gold, but also in cobalt and nickel. That endowment has not been reflected in exploration activity, and there’s good reason: this is a tough environment to be running a mine. We’ve got mountainous topography and very high rainfall, not to mention the seismicity and lack of infrastructure, including roads and power.
Overcoming these challenges requires substantial capital investment, which is why primarily large projects, such as Ok Tedi, Porgera, Lihir and Ramu, have been successful. Their scale and resource base can support the investment needed to develop and sustain operations in this environment.
“This is a cyclical industry, and those conditions won’t last forever.”
We’ve got some good junior explorers who are putting money into the drill bit, and that’s improved dramatically over the last few years. A stronger commodity price environment and greater investor appetite for high-risk exploration have helped juniors raise the capital needed to get drilling programs underway.
Previously, we had quite a number of underfunded explorers that weren’t doing much drilling. No matter how much you explore, if you don’t drill, you’re not going to find a mine.
Success also depends on building strong relationships with landowners and communities. Wherever you are in PNG, you’re in someone’s garden, as they say. Most of the country is involved in subsistence farming, so whether you’re exploring or at an operation, you’ve got that engagement with landowners and communities – and it’s a relationship that requires continuous work.
The government has been stepping up recently. The mining minister attended PDAC, the world’s largest mineral exploration and mining convention, in Toronto in early 2026, where we organised a well-attended PNG Investor Briefing Event. The event received positive feedback from delegates from around the world whom we later met at the conference.
My advice to juniors is to raise capital while commodity prices and investor appetite are supportive – this is a cyclical industry, and those conditions won’t last forever. Be bold and take considered risks with exploration: you need to drill to find a mine.
At K92, we are proud to be the largest mineral explorer in Papua New Guinea, making bold, high-risk investments to discover mineral resources that can benefit future generations. At the same time, take a long-term view and be a good corporate citizen – a partner committed to ensuring that stakeholders benefit from your success. We believe K92 is an example of a win-win-win, where communities, government and investors all benefit from exploration and, ultimately, the development of mines that increase prosperity in Papua New Guinea.
John Lewins was CEO of K92 Mining Inc. from 2017 to 2026 and is now K92 Mining’s Non-Executive Chair. A version of this opinion piece also appears in the new 2026/27 edition of Mining & Energy magazine.
