A joint communique issued earlier this month by Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape and new Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama has committed them to moderated ‘joint consultations’ over the autonomous region’s desired independence. It has again brought focus on the future of the island’s massive Panguna copper and gold mine.
The prospects for the prices of metals Papua New Guinea exports are mostly positive, reports David James from the recent International Mining and Resources Conference.
The global economy is recovering faster that expected, according to Douglas Porter, Chief Economist and Managing Director of Canadian investment bank, BMO Financial Group.
Oil Search has announced in a recent strategy update that it will continue to reduce costs and pull back on exploration. However, the company says it intends to make the Papua LNG project a priority.
Horizon Oil has announced that it is selling its assets to its co-venturer Arran Energy and pulling out of Papua New Guinea. The prospect of a weak oil price may be to blame, according to one analyst.
Mayur Resources has just released its annual report, providing an update on its diverse portfolio of mining and energy projects in Papua New Guinea, including the Central Cement and Limestone project.
The contribution of the resources sector to the Papua New Guinea is being greatly under-estimated according to Maygen Turliu, Director of Tax & Business Services for Deloitte PNG. What appears in Treasury’s Budget is less than a third of its actual contribution.
In a surprise development, the Porgera gold mine looks set to re-open, ending a period of intense disagreement between Papua New Guinea’s government and Barrick Niugini, the mine’s operator.
The Papua New Guinea government hopes that its ‘in-principle’ agreement with Twinza Oil over the Pasca A offshore oil field in the Gulf of Papua will be a template for new oil and gas projects. But the project isn’t across the line just yet.
The Marape government’s proposed introduction of a new Organic Law for mining, and oil and gas projects will do away with Papua New Guinea’s ‘robust’ legal regime, according to Vaughan Mills, Head of PNG Practice for Corrs, Chambers Westgarth.