this is definitely not good. I have just read the article in...

this is definitely not good. I have just read the article in 'The Age"

Lihir shuts PNG mine over disputesJanuary 26, 2009 - 2:16PM
Lihir Gold, Australia's second-biggest listed gold producer, has been forced to shut its mine in Papua New Guinea because of landowner disputes.

The Lihir Island mine, in the province of New Ireland, about 700 km northeast of the capital, Port Moresby, has been shut since Friday afternoon over a compensation dispute between the local landowners and the apex landowner body.

"LGL is presently assisting the parties involved to resolve the matter quickly,'' Lihir's spokeswoman said today.

The mine, fully owned by Lihir, produced 216,371 ounces of gold in the third quarter, and the firm has flagged the mine's full-year production to top 700,000 ounces.

Disputes over the distribution of compensation and land are not uncommon in PNG, whose mineral deposits, including copper, gold and oil account for nearly two-thirds of the country's export earnings.

Lihir in October forecast annual production of 850,000 ounces this year, up from 701,000 in 2007, owing in part to the start of new mines in Australia and Africa as it moved away from being a company with one mine in PNG.

Reuters