Take Back Porgera (2025)

07/11/2024

KPHL FINALISES PURCHASE OF 2.6% INTEREST IN PNG LNG PROJECT

Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited has finalized its acquisition of additional equity in the PNG LNG Project from Santos Limited.
KPHL managing director Wapu Sonk explained, “Under our agreement with Santos, we made a partial payment of US$352 million earlier this year. The remaining balance will be paid by December 2024, and we have just completed the share acquisition, well before the end of the year.”
Read more:https://emtv.com.pg/kphl-finalises-purchase-of-2-6-interest-in-png-lng-project/

31/01/2024

PORGERA GOLD EXPORTS SET TO BOOST RESERVES

The National
30th January 2024

AN expected gold export revenue of K1.8 billion from Porgera this year will boost Papua New Guinea’s foreign exchange reserves, the resource developer has announced.

New Porgera Limited (NPL) yesterday said Porgera was progressing well and on track.
It said the first gold production was expected as planned, in the first quarter as long as the Highlands Highway remained open.

Acknowledging the Government’s support, through the Mineral Resources Authority, and the commitment of the Porgera workforce, general manager Chad Coulin (pictured) said: “Following completion under the Porgera Project Commencement Agreement (PPCA) on Dec 22, the NPL team has stepped up and delivered outstandingly to get back into full production in the third quarter.

“The critical path to full production is re-standing or replacing relevant towers along the Hides transmission line.”

Coulin explained that about K2.7 billion would cover operations cost alone this year – K1.6 billion for direct operating costs (including K613 million that would be capitalised prior to restart) and K1.1 billion for capital.

He said law and order would continue to be a challenge and called on all stakeholders to support the restart operations by contributing to peace in the valley with no further vandalism of critical infrastructure.

Expenditure on PNG sourced goods and services would cost more than K600 million this year.
Furthermore, Coulin said more than 3,000 Papua New Guineans would be employed by year end with a payroll of K150 million. Royalties, which will be paid to landowners and the Enga government, and a 0.5 per cent production levy to Mineral Resources Authority will amount to K63.4 million.
Withholding taxes and custom duties payable to the Government this year were estimated at K28.2 million.

Coulin said NPL had started settling the K4.6 million in outstanding compensation fees for the period that Porgera was in “care and maintenance”. Shortly, it would commence negotiation of the long-term compensation agreements with landholder agents.

The sharing and division of project benefits such as equity and royalties among stakeholders will be agreed at a Government-managed development forum. This would be contained in a Porgera Project Community Development Agreement with NPL as a party.

31/01/2024

PORGERA MINE RESTART ON TRACK

31 January 2024 - Media Statement

The Porgera mine in Enga Province is progressing well with first gold production expected to be achieved in Q1 2024 as planned, New Porgera Ltd has announced.

This is subject to several good outcomes and also the Highlands Highway continues to remain open and no further vandalism of project infrastructure.

Following completion under the Porgera Project Commencement Agreement (PPCA) on 22 December 2023, the NPL team has stepped up and delivered outstandingly towards getting back into full production in Q3 as required by the PPCA. The critical path to full production is re-standing or replacing relevant towers along the Hides Transmission Line.

NPL General Manager, Chad Coulin, acknowledged the tremendous effort made by the NPL workforce and the support of the regulator, the Mineral Resources Authority, to restart the Porgera mine in compliance with the laws of Papua New Guinea.

In 2024 for the Porgera mine operations, there will be an estimated spending of K2.7B (US$749m), which is divided between K1.6B (US$442m) of direct operating costs (including K613m (US$174m) that will be capitalized before restart) and K1.1B (US$308m) of capital.

The expected export revenue from Porgera gold sales in 2024 is K1.8B (US$504m) which will assist in boosting PNG’s foreign exchange reserves.

Expenditure on PNG-sourced goods and services is estimated to be over K600m during 2024. Over 3,000 Papua New Guineans will be employed by NPL by the end of 2024 with a payroll for the year of K150m (US$42.6m).

Outstanding payments are also being sorted.

Royalty payments to landowners and the Enga Provincial Government, and a 0.5 percent production levy to the Mineral Resources Authority will amount to K63.4m (US$18m). Withholding taxes and custom duties payable to the National Government are estimated to be K28.2m (US$8m) for 2024.

NPL has commenced payment of K4.6m in outstanding compensation fees for the period that Porgera was in Care & Maintenance. Negotiation of long-term compensation agreements with landholder agents will commence shortly.

The sharing and division of project benefits such as equity and royalties among stakeholders, will be agreed upon at the Government-managed Development Forum process, and be recorded in a Porgera Project Community Development Agreement to NPL will be a party to.

Meantime, under the Community Development Agreement, NPL will contribute through the Tax Credit Scheme to relevant infrastructural projects in health, education, roads and law and order.

Law and order continues to be a challenge and NPL calls for all stakeholders to support the restart of operations by contributing to peace in the valley with no further vandalism of critical infrastructure.

29/01/2024

PORGERA RESTART ON TRACK

The Porgera mine in Enga Province is progressing well with first gold production expected to be achieved in Q1 2024 as planned, New Porgera Ltd has announced.

This is subject to several good outcomes and also the Highlands Highway continues to remain open and no further vandalism of project infrastructure.

Following completion under the Porgera Project Commencement Agreement (PPCA) on 22 December 2023, the NPL team has stepped up and delivered outstandingly towards getting back into full production in Q3 as required by the PPCA. The critical path to full production is re-standing or replacing relevant towers along the Hides Transmission Line.

NPL General Manager, Chad Coulin, acknowledged the tremendous effort made by the NPL workforce and the support of the regulator, the Mineral Resources Authority, to restart the Porgera mine in compliance with the laws of Papua New Guinea.

In 2024 for the Porgera mine operations, there will be an estimated spending of K2.7B (US$749m), which is divided between K1.6B (US$442m) of direct operating costs (including K613m (US$174m) that will be capitalized before restart) and K1.1B (US$308m) of capital.

The expected export revenue from Porgera gold sales in 2024 is K1.8B (US$504m) which will assist in boosting PNG’s foreign exchange reserves.

Expenditure on PNG-sourced goods and services is estimated to be over K600m during 2024. Over 3,000 Papua New Guineans will be employed by NPL by the end of 2024 with a payroll for the year of K150m (US$42.6m).

Outstanding payments are also being sorted.

Royalty payments to landowners and the Enga Provincial Government, and a 0.5 percent production levy to the Mineral Resources Authority will amount to K63.4m (US$18m). Withholding taxes and custom duties payable to the National Government are estimated to be K28.2m (US$8m) for 2024.

NPL has commenced payment of K4.6m in outstanding compensation fees for the period that Porgera was in Care & Maintenance. Negotiation of long-term compensation agreements with landholder agents will commence shortly.

The sharing and division of project benefits such as equity and royalties among stakeholders, will be agreed upon at the Government-managed Development Forum process, and be recorded in a Porgera Project Community Development Agreement to NPL will be a party to.

Meantime, under the Community Development Agreement, NPL will contribute through the Tax Credit Scheme to relevant infrastructural projects in health, education, roads and law and order.

Law and order continues to be a challenge and NPL calls for all stakeholders to support the restart of operations by contributing to peace in the valley with no further vandalism of critical infrastructure.

NPL MEDIA RELEASE
29TH JANUARY 2024

13/12/2023

PORGERA MINE SET TO RESTART ON DECEMBER 22

December 13, 2023

New Porgera Limited (NPL) is pleased to announce that all legal and contractual conditions necessary for the reopening of Porgera Mine have now been met and the mine is set to officially restart operations on December 22, 2023. With the ramp up of operations, first gold is expected to be poured in the first quarter of 2024.

As Prime Minister Marape noted in a speech recently in Sydney, the long road to Porgera’s reopening has reached the finish line. The result is an unprecedented partnership between Papua New Guinea and two leading global mining companies, Barrick Gold Corporation (Barrick) and Zijin Mining, which for the first time gives majority ownership in a major resource project to Papua New Guinean shareholders.

New Porgera will deliver unprecedented benefits to the people of Papua New Guinea. Over the 20-year life of mine, PNG shareholders – comprised of Porgera landowners, Enga province and the State – will receive 53% of Porgera’s overall economic benefits. The investors will share the remaining 47%.

At an assumed gold price of US$1,800 per ounce, PNG shareholders can expect to receive nearly US$7.3 billion (approximately Kina 27.6 billion) over 20 years and US$2.8 billion (Kina 10.6 billion) in the first ten years.

New Porgera Limited will be managed by Barrick (Niugini) Limited and employ more than 2,300 people by June 2024 and over 3,000 by the end of 2024.

Photo: Aerial view of the Porgera gold mine. Credit: Zijin Mining

11/12/2023

NPL MEDIA RELEASE: Porgera Mine Set to Restart on December 22

30/11/2023

Legislation Paves The Way For Pogera Mine To Reopen

Media Release
30th November 2023

03/11/2023

15 NEW PORGERA TENEMENTS SIGNED

03 November 2023

Mineral Resource Authority (MRA) Managing Director Jerry Garry and Mining Minister Sir Ano Pala signed 15 ancillary tenements of the New Porgera Special Mining Lease 13 in Port Moresby today.

Following the signing of SML 13 and the Proposal for Development by the Governor General on the 13th October 2023, MRA has moved to support the main SML with the signing of 15 ancillary support tenements..

Garry said the 15 tenements will support the development of the main Porgera SML 13 covering areas of tailing, and operation lines among others.

He said the main tenements are Ramu Nickel, Majour Resources, Kainantu Mine and Frieda River.

Garry added that the Governor General signed off on SML 13 and approved the mining proposals and the 15 tenements, as part of this proposal.

Meanwhile, the signed tenements were issued to the executives of New Porgera Limited.

01/11/2023

PORGERA LANDOWNERS ASSOCIATION SUBMIT RECOMMENDATION TO AGREEMENT ON RESETTLEMENT

Thursday, 2nd November 2023

The Porgera Landowners Association (PLOA) said they have already submitted a recommendation to both the National Government and Barrick Niugini Limited (BNL) to agree on resettlement first.

Chairman of the PLOA Mark Ekepa said when clarifying the continuous concerns being raised on the different media forum by the landowners affected by the mine operation.

He said the recommendation submit by PLOA will be part and parcel of the entire Compensation Agreement and that will trigger the landowners to access their customary land in order for the New Porgera Limited (NPL) to open the mine.

“In contrast, the balance of the damages or compensation is negotiated over time (the full compensation negotiation may take up to 3 or more years to conclude) but falls on deaf ears.

“Now they want us landowners to give consent to access our land, and this is not acceptable and it also bypasses the Mining Act section. 155.

“All they are doing is to evade the legacy issues so, therefore, landowners must not compromise on it this time,” he said.

Mr Ekepa said the NPL tenement holder is fully aware, has witnessed, and understands that a court sanctions full validations of the entire SML agents have been done and it’s registered.

He said the full validation exercise was conducted by MRA taking land with several government departments and has completed its agent validations for both Special Mining Lease (SML) and Lease for Mining Purpose (LMP).

Mr Ekepa said the NPL tenement holder must be aware that the same compensation and occupations recipients have vested their powers through a voting system and not hand-picked to undermined the powers vested to each individual sub-clan agent to represent them in any negotiations for and on behalf of them in Porgera mine with all relevant stakeholders.

“Now the NPL tenement holder is trying to play a divide and rule tactic to undermine the voting of agents done and was fully funded and coordinated by MRA.

“Therefore, the tenement holder must understand what he it’s doing currently on the ground in Porgera to handpick its supporters and contractors to sign a consent agreement to access our customary land which is not acceptable to the landowners.”

24/10/2023

New Porgera Limited Media Release
13th October 2023

SML 13 granted for New Porgera

18/10/2023

COMPENSATION AGREEMENT NEXT STEP TO REOPENING PORGERA, SAYS BARRICK CEO

The opening of the Porgera mine is targeted towards the end of the year depending on how fast compensation agreements can be reached between the landowners and New Porgera Limited.

With Barrick Niugini spending four million US dollars a day to keep the Porgera running, it is looking to restart the mine at the earliest.

The reopening will mean the start of the flow of benefits in both royalties and spin-offs to landowners of the Porgera Valley.

Barrick CEO Mark Bristow is keen to get the compensation agreements done quickly so work can progress immediately.

And he says to fast-track the process, he is open to adopting the compensation arrangements of the old Porgera with additions to reflect the new changes.

“I think everyone’s motivated and again the compensation that we’re proposing, it would be good to get that settled down on a ratio or some arrangement that we can just add to what was already been compensated under the old Porgera structure. That will make it easy and give everyone a fill-up,” Bristow said.

Compensation will only be for parties in the Porgera Valley and does not include landowners of other utilities that are being sourced from outside of Porgera including the Hides Power.

Barrick is working with the government leaders of Hela province to come up with something for the landowners along the power line and power station in Hides.

“Compensation is specifically to landowner categories.

“So we have had that discussion with the Hela governor. We’ve been working on something with him for a while and again that structure we have worked out with Hela governor should provide the incentives and benefits to the Hela people along the power line and around the power station,” he added.

Bristow says while compensation is an added benefit for the landowners, the real benefit is the carried equity to the Enga Provincial government and the landowners. Funding for these equities has been paid for by Barrick.

Barrick has also undertaken to complete the relocation exercise within a set time once production starts. However, Bristow said this exercise will consider the legitimacy of settlers impacted in this exercise as they believe there are people who have moved in and settled in the mine lease area and now claiming to be affected.

He has welcomed the support from major landowner groups who have committed to managing security on the ground to ensure Porgera comes back online as soon as possible.

Loop PNG News
18th October 2023

16/10/2023

Prime Minister James Marape Celebrates Historic Agreements for Reopening Porgera Gold Mine

Prime Minister James Marape has hailed the signing of four agreements on Friday, October 13, 2023, as a "giant leap" towards the reopening of the Porgera gold mine in Enga. The agreements signed between the State and New Porgera Ltd include the Mining Development Contract, Special Mining Lease 13, Fiscal Stability Agreement, and Escrow Arrangement for Landowners.

The mine is expected to commence operations before the end of the year, with full production anticipated within six months, contingent upon the finalisation of compensation agreements for landowners.

Operated by New Porgera Ltd, a company with a 51 percent ownership by Papua New Guinea stakeholders and 49 percent by Barrick, the momentous signing event took place at Government House, witnessed by Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae, Prime Minister Marape, Barrick Gold Corporation President and CEO Mark Bristow, company representatives, Enga Governor Hon. Sir Peter Ipatas, Ministers and MPs, Porgera landowner representatives, members of the State Negotiating Team, and others.

Prime Minister Marape expressed his gratitude to Mr. Bristow and the Barrick team for their care and stewardship of the mine since its closure in April 2020. In his words, "I want to say today, October 13, 2023, is a day in which we have taken a giant leap from April 24, 2020. Today's signing of four key instruments is a big step towards reopening Porgera."

Prime Minister Marape emphasised the significance of the partnership, stating, "This is the first time that a Papua New Guinea company has merged in a joint venture with a global supermajor like Barrick. This incorporated joint venture is structured in a way where accountability of all parties is on the table. I want to assure everyone that this has been done transparently."

Regarding crucial issues such as the resettlement of Porgera landowners, Prime Minister Marape expressed his gratitude, saying, "We thank everyone for their patience and support. We believe that what has been secured under SML 13 is in the best interests of everyone, and we look forward to the next 20 years. It is my view, and the Enga Governor's view, that this arrangement will lift the living standards of Porgera Valley landowners, Enga Province landowners, and Papua New Guineans."

Mr. Bristow, President and CEO of Barrick Gold Corporation, described the day as "special," with the signing of SML 13 occurring on Friday the 13th. He stated, "It's a milestone. We have an exciting voyage ahead of us. The important thing, as the Prime Minister said, is that it's a real partnership. We've worked hard to get here, and it's important now to finish the last step, and that is the compensation arrangements for all the landowners. We want to get that out of the way as quickly as possible. We believe that we can do that with the help of everyone."

This historic agreement marks a significant step forward in the reopening of the Porgera gold mine, ushering in new opportunities and prosperity for the region.

Take Back Porgera

07/11/2024

31/01/2024

31/01/2024

29/01/2024

13/12/2023

11/12/2023

30/11/2023

03/11/2023

01/11/2023

24/10/2023

18/10/2023

16/10/2023

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