Short Term Trading Weekend Lounge: 8 - 10th Dec, page-87

STTCOMP RTG FA LONG

RTG.  Copper/Gold Phillipines. Copper/Gold Bouganville, PNG.

SOI: 154 Million.
MC: $61 Million.
Cash:  Cash and liquid assets as at 30 September were A$5.7M.
Share Price = 36.5c.

RTG is focused on a proposal with a landowner lead consortium to secure an exploration licence at the high tonnage copper-gold Panguna Project in Bougainville PNG and the high grade copper/gold/magnetite Mabilo Project in the Philippines.

RTG has been nominated as the preferred development partner by the SMLOLA in their proposal with respect to the redevelopment of the 1.5B tonne Copper-Gold Panguna Project located in the Central Region of the island of Bougainville, within the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. The proposal being led by the SMLOLA is a landowner initiative and will be subject to the success or otherwise of the SMLOLA in securing a role in the redevelopment of the mine and their minerals. The SMLOLA proposal is also ultimately conditional upon the support of the Autonomous Bougainville Government (“ABG”) and others.

The members of the SMLOLA are the owners of the customary land which is the subject of the old Bougainville Copper Limited (“BCL”) operated Panguna open pit mine area and BCL has been seeking to secure their consent to a renewal of EL1, a 2 year exploration licence that expired in September last year, given the SMLOLA members now own all the minerals in the old Panguna pit. It is also currently awaiting a review by the ABG under the Mining Act.
Bougainville Copper Limited (“BCL”) was the holder of the previous exploration licence, EL1, which was to expire in September last year, subject to any valid renewal application by the company. Our legal advice confirms that BCL does not have a first right of refusal over the Project or the grant of an exploration licence, but it is recognised that the ABG must first determine its position on any apparent renewal application of BCL, before considering the application of the SMLOLA consortium.
Despite legal advice that the renewal application by BCL did not satisfy the requirements of the Mining Act, should the ABG choose to continue with the planned Warden’s Hearing on 11 December 2017, both Mr Miriori and Mr Daveona have indicated they will recommend strongly to their members to deny their consent. In line with this position, there has been a petition with 2,000 supporters and at least 112 formal written objections lodged with the Warden, including one by the SMLOLA setting out extensive concerns with any consideration of an extension of BCL’s previous exploration licence. In Bougainville, a Mining Warden’s Hearing is required in the issue of an exploration licence to assess whether it has the necessary support of the landowners in the exploration licence boundary area i.e. the SMLOLA members.

The SMLOLA consortium has been advised that they were the first and to date, only new application for an exploration licence over the old EL1 ground.
We believe the proposal presented by the SMLOLA consortium represents a unique and once in a generational opportunity to responsibly re-open the Panguna Mine for the benefit of all Bougainvilleans. RTG has always suggested that this is best achieved by discussion and negotiation with all relevant parties, including the ABG.

Potential for a massive rerate here if BCL is denied the opportunity to develop the Panguna mine and it's awarded instead to the RTG Central consortium. High risk, high reward here!