Yes, my old stockbroker was over there during WWII. He told me that the Papuans and Bougainvillians disliked one another enormously. For the 16 years (I think) until 1989 virtually all the revenue went to Port Morseby and that had an enormous influence. The PNG government has promised Bougainvillians that they would be given autonomy but not full independence. Whatever that means in reality? Bougainville would need revenue from the mine to be sustainable. In 1989 it was believed that less than half the resources had been mined. That was probably a conservative estimate. The concern that I have is that most of the world's copper ends up in China and the market is growing. If China was to procure a major supply they could influence the market. If they were to make an offer that was hard to refuse they could send in an army of security for the mine. All hypothetical. Now let's look at the other countries that BHP is operating. Chile doesn't seem too bad but many are high risk and need security personnel. It's even higher for S32. Maybe one of the reasons they were spun off? Just my thoughts for our discussion.
BHP Price at posting:
$44.28 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
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