The ABG minister responsible for Natural Resources and Energy Michael Oni has revealed that his department has now nearly completed the long term Bougainville Mining Act and regulations that will replace the Bougainville Mining Transitional Arrangement Act passed in August this year.
When giving his ministerial statement during the September parliament seating, he explained that the long term mining law is the complete package in the transfer of powers to the Autonomous Bougainville Government.
He said the long term law consists of the Bougainville Mining Policies, Acts and regulations.
He added that a final draft was endorsed by the cabinet for consultation and then final approval.
The permanent Act captures the important issues not addressed in the Papua New Guinea Mining Act or the Transitional Act and these issues are the result of lessons learnt from our Panguna Crisis and some modern approaches in mining today.
These are royalties and equity participation, community and regional development projects, offshore mining, mine closure and rehabilitation, resettlement, mine waste management, employment, training and local procurement opportunities, tendering and small scale mining.
Minister Oni said the most important concepts the permanent Act will capture are equity participation by landowners, royalty to landowners and the ABG.
He then asked his member colleagues for their support to enable his department to complete the permanent Bougainville Mining Act and regulations by November this year and have it presented, debated and hopefully passed by the house in December this year or March next year.
He added that this then can enable the ABG to lift the moratorium and open up exploration mining in selected areas in Bougainville.
BOC Price at posting:
29.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)