Sorry but you failed to address the thrust of what I said.Your...

Sorry but you failed to address the thrust of what I said.
Your comment was aimed as much at me, personally, although you probably did not realize that at the time.
You in effect seemed to state that the actual process to grant in PNG is was subject to the vicissitudes of corrupt regulatory practice.
I would know just about every serious player in the game in PNG.
My direct experience is that this is far from the truth.
I say this not as an opinion but as a direct empirical fact because I was the former head of regulatory operations in PNG.
There's a difference between an empirical fact and an opinion based on what other people ("mates"), for whatever reason, say.
There are probably very good reasons why your mates had a problem.
If you told me the name of the company your “mates” were with, or the ground they held or sought, I think I might be in a very good position to identify why they are disaffected.