Rio hosts Bougainville talks Jesse Riseborough Tuesday, March 14, 2006 SPECULATION surrounding a resumption of mining operations on the island of Bougainville following a 17-year hiatus appears to be gathering momentum, with news that PNG Minister for Mines Sam Akoitai has arrived at Rio Tinto's London headquarters for talks with senior staff.
The news was splashed over the front page of the Post-Courier today under the headline 'Plan to mine Bougainville.'
The minister, who is from Bougainville, flew to London following a presentation at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in Toronto, according to the paper.
He will reportedly be holding "high-level talks" with Rio officials with regards to lifting the exploration moratorium on Bougainville Island. Rio holds a 53% stake in Bougainville Copper, the only company currently allowed to undertake any form of exploration on the island.
Akoitai told the Post-Courier the meeting with Rio would focus on lifting the moratorium to allow other potential investors to undertake exploration on the island.
Attempts by PNGIndustryNews.net to reach Bougainville Copper company secretary Paul Coleman and chairman Peter Taylor were unsuccessful, as both are overseas.
Bougainville Copper holds seven exploration licences throughout Bougainville with an exploration moratorium – concerning the entire island – in place, preventing any other form of exploration.
The company, the last to undertake any form of mining on the island, operated the massive Panguna copper-gold mine from 1972 to 1989. The mine was closed after a series of violent attacks on employees.
A resource of around 625 million tonnes at 0.4% copper and 0.4 grams per tonne of gold remains in the ground at Panguna.
Earlier this month, PNGIndustryNews.net spoke with Coleman who indicated that given the current highs enjoyed by copper and gold prices, the company would be looking to "reinvent" itself.
"With the minerals boom that is going on at the moment, Bougainville Copper has got to reinvent itself one way or another – whether it is Panguna or whether it is something else – the time is now right and there is a window of opportunity," he said.
Coleman said the company had recently been in discussions with the PNG Government, which holds a 19% stake, and now hoped to meet with the new Autonomous Government in the coming month.
"We have been in discussions with those guys, the national government is definitely pushing it, the Minister for Mines is pushing it and it is now a matter of the Autonomous Government and us getting together," he said.
Shares in Bougainville Copper closed up 16c (26.2%) on Tuesday to 77c.
BOC Price at posting:
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