The Papua New Guinea Government has moved closer to reopening Bougainville's Panguna copper mine, which was the centre of a secessionist war that claimed thousands of lives in the 1980s and 90s.
Over the past 18 months Bougainville's autonomous government has been seeking control of its mineral and gas resources.
That request has largely been ignored by the PNG Government until now.
Both governments have signed a step-by-step process to hand mining powers back to Bougainville.
PNG Mining Minister Dr Puka Temu hopes the initiative is the first step in reopening the Bougainville copper mine.
"It's already there and an enormous deposit is still there and we basically agreed to start bringing the reopening of Bougainville copper mine on the table," he said.
Dr Temu says both governments need to focus on lifting the moratorium on mining that was put in place there after the war.
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