The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) says it is likely to put exploration licences out to international tender as a first step towards restarting the K177 billion Panguna gold and copper mine. Governor John Momis tells Business Advantage PNG he expects the ABG to take up Rio Tinto’s offer of shares, claiming that the national government should pass on the shares it was given by Rio to the ABG.
Next week, the Papua New Guinea-focused gas explorer InterOil may well have a new owner, after its shareholders consider rival offers from Oil Search and ExxonMobil. Business Advantage PNG considers the implications for PNG’s second gas project, Papua LNG and the wider economy.
Frieda River, a wholly owned PNG subsidiary of PanAust, has lodged a Special Mining Lease application to Papua New Guinea’s Mineral Resources Authority to develop the Frieda River Copper-Gold Project. Glen Connell, PanAust’s General Manager, Government and Community Relations, tells Business Advantage PNG that developing a ‘social licence’ to operate is just as crucial to the success of the project.
Oil Search, Papua New Guinea’s biggest company and largest non-government employer, looks set to consolidate its position as a major player in the Asia Pacific oil and gas market with its $US2.2 billion purchase of InterOil. Chief Executive of Oil Search, Peter Botten, says it will allow the company to be ‘hugely influential in the further development of our world class PNG LNG and Papua LNG assets.’
PanAust has released its feasibility study into the Frieda River mine in Sandaun Province, claiming it is ‘one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the world’, with an initial 17-year mine life. The company’s intention is to take a staged approach to development.
France’s Total SA has confirmed its plans to commence construction for Papua LNG, the country’s next big liquefied natural gas project. Business Advantage PNG spoke with Philippe Blanchard, Managing Director of its PNG subsidiary, Total E&P PNG, to learn more about its race to start construction in 2018.
With the PNG LNG project now in production, all eyes are on Papua New Guinea’s next likely gas project: Papua LNG. InterOil Corporation has been with the project, based on the Elk-Antelope gas fields in Gulf Province, since its inception. Chief Executive Officer Michael Hession tells Business Advantage PNG why the project is still promising, even in a time of low global gas prices.
It has been a long voyage, but Canada-listed copper-gold explorer Nautilus Minerals is on track to commence deep-sea mining operations at its Solwara 1 deposit in the Bismarck Sea, off Papua New Guinea. Business Advantage PNG talks exclusively to CEO Mike Johnston about the project.
Papua New Guinea’s transformational PNG LNG project has been exporting gas to Asian markets since 2014. But what’s next for the project and its developer, ExxonMobil? Business Advantage PNG speaks with Andrew Barry, the Managing Director of ExxonMobil PNG Limited, to find out.
Papua New Guinea’s approach to mining and resources legislation, currently under review, will be critical to positioning the country for the next upswing in prices, claims Greg Anderson, executive director of the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum.