Panguna Mine Issues Take Centre Stage

Panguna Mine issues took center stage at the recent CANCONEX Resource week hosted by the Papua New Guinea Camber of Resources and Energy (PNG CORE).

Despite being closed for more than 30 years the mine is in the stages to re-open but legacy issues that have been left by Bougainville Copper Limited’s operations until its closure need to be addressed.

The President and his cabinet of the Bougainville Executive council granted an extension of the exploration license, EL_01 to Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) on the 28th of January, 2024.

The Panguna Project is already licensed under an Exploration License for a term of five years.

What the Land owners and the people directly affected by the mine want, is to get some closure to the legacy issues, which include the environmental destruction caused by the mine.

Present at CANCONEX was President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Ishmael Toroama, who gave an overall report on the legacy issues of the mine including the way forward to reopening Panguna.

Theonila Roka Matbob, member for the Ioro Constituency in Central Bougainville, is a Panguna mine landowner and she is very vocal about the legacy issues left by the mine.

She is the Minister for Community Government and also a long time activist on Panguna issues, she said during CANCONEX that they want to close the old chapter of Panguna as they move on to the new chapter.

She mentioned that there is a report; the PANGUNA MINE LEGACY IMPACT ASSESSMENT, which is set to be complete by August.

The report will help the People of Panguna understand the extent of the mine legacy issues.

The Panguna issue remains sensitive but parties in the efforts to re-open the mine are working closely together.

Bougainville Copper Limited Chairman, Sir Mel Togolo was also part of the discussions at CANCONEX, he said BCL had a more community oriented approach and there is widespread acceptance for the mine’s reopening in the Panguna Area.

President Toroama who is also Minister for Minerals & Energy says all the discussions and dialogue between the Land Owners and the ABG, carefully considered support for local content and Resource Owners, he said this was paramount because it is the Land owners that own the Resource.

Theonila Roka stressed that what is important is a plan to see a more viable future for resource owners considering their attachment to the land and its resources, and they can be more sustainable after the project ends.