Bougainville Copper Mine gets major support from senior Government Minister Papua New Guinea?s Minister for Bougainville Affairs, Fidelis Semoso, has delivered his strongestever statement of support for the re-opening of the BCL copper mine at Panguna.
Quoted in the Post Courier daily, on September 30, 2010, Mr Semoso says the Autonomous Bougainville Region needs an impact project to pump its economy, and that the Panguna mine is an ideal answer, providing the Governments of Bougainville and PNG, together with landowners, can quickly address outstanding issues.
?Yes, revenue from copra and cocoa used to bring K60 or K70 million into the Bougainville economy in the years before the crisis, and there is talk about other mines that could be developed in the future.
?But agriculture cannot provide us with enough help, and future mines may take ten years to develop.
?The Panguna mine will take between three and five years to re-start, and surely we can get back to where we were before the crisis, or better,? the Minister said.
?The Bougainville Copper Agreement is still one of the best blueprints for development, and is in place.?
He appealed for all stakeholders in PNG and the Autonomous Bougainville Region to come together and seriously address the BCL issue, so that real development could start. Mr Semoso said he would be making a visit to meet the landowners of Panguna to seek first hand their views, before taking the matter up with the National Government. Bougainville Copper Limited, which owns the Panguna property and seven adjacent tenements, has said it is ready at any time to commence the renegotiation of the Bougainville Copper Agreement.
In production, Panguna would still be one of the largest copper/gold producers in the world. melden bewertet: 1x informativ, 1x gut analysiert (1x von mir)
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