Panguna News, page-2

Thanks for that. One thing missing in the document is where is the money coming from to reopen the mine?

To the best of my recollections the Bougainvillians got very little from the mine revenue in the 70s and 80s. It supplied around one third of the total revenue to PNG when it was operating. When one thinks of other mines in PNG such as OK Tedi that's amazing. The PNG government knew that BOC had plenty of money in the bank when operations ceased in 1989 and so continued to tax BOC for years as if the mine was operating. After the newly formed automonous government of Bougainville was formed they took the mine licence away from BOC. This was the catalyst for RIO to donate their shares in a way where the PNG and AGB had equal shares. Recently the AGB have given BOC permission to access the Panguna mine site to estimate the reserves of Cu, Au and Ag. But that's it.

It appears that the Bougainvillians don't like BOC because of the previous controlling ownership of RIO. The document suggests that they are going to get the mine operational again soon but doesn't say how. I'm sure the Chinese would be interested if approached. I got rid of my BOC shares after RIO dumped theirs.

A lot of political barriers to overcome. Where will the finance and expertise come from to reopen the mine. As I understand it has at least 30 years mine life left.

Just my thoughts