{"id":1180368,"date":"2020-04-24T05:24:40","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T10:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1021665"},"modified":"2020-04-24T05:24:40","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T10:24:40","slug":"papa-new-guinea-snatches-barrick-golds-porgera-mine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1180368","title":{"rendered":"Papa New Guinea snatches Barrick Gold\u2019s Porgera mine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Papua New Guinea is set to take control of Barrick Gold\u2019s (TSX: ABX) (NYSE: GOLD) Porgera mine after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.barrick.com\/English\/news\/news-details\/2020\/barrick-niugini-limited-challenges-non-extension-of-special-mining-lease\/default.aspx\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"refusing to extend the company\u2019s lease (opens in a new tab)\">refusing to extend the company\u2019s lease<\/a> on environmental and social grounds, Prime Minister James Marape said on Friday.<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center d-xs-block d-sm-block d-md-none'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cIn the best interests of the<br \/>\nstate, especially in lieu of the environmental damages, claims and<br \/>\nresettlements issues, the Special Mining Lease will not be renewed,\u201d Marape<br \/>\nsaid.<\/p>\n<p>The decision, which would have renewed Barrick\u2019s rights for 20 years,&nbsp;comes nine months after the mining lease expired. During that time, the world\u2019s second largest gold miner has faced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/barrick-meets-new-png-leader-porgera-mine-lease-extension\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">backlash from landowners and residents<\/a> over what they claim are negative social, environmental and economic impacts from the mine. <\/p>\n<p>Negotiations with Porgera\u2019s<br \/>\noperators were complicated further by a split among the landowners.<\/p>\n<p>Barrick\u2019s president and chief executive officer, Mark Bristow, had said last month that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/barrick-unveils-10-year-plan-to-become-worlds-most-valued-gold-miner\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">Porgera had \u201ctier one potential\u201d<\/a> but faced many challenges in the form of \u201clegacy issues and an unruly neighbourhood.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The gold mine, located in PNG\u2019s<br \/>\nnorthern highlands region, is a joint venture between Barrick and Zijin Mining.<br \/>\nEach own 47.5% of the mine, with the remaining 5% held by landowner group,<br \/>\nMineral Resources Enga.<\/p>\n<p>The government has said it plans to<br \/>\ngive a portion of Barrick and Zijin\u2019s stakes the national and provincial<br \/>\ngovernments and to landowners.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce the transition phase has been<br \/>\ncompleted, then the state will enter into owning and operating the mine after<br \/>\ntransition arrangements,\u201d Marape said in a televised speech from the capital<br \/>\nPort Moresby.<\/p>\n<p>Porgera contributes to about 10% of<br \/>\nthe nation\u2019s exports and employs over 3,300 Papua New Guineans.<\/p>\n<p>Several other mining companies are waiting on government approval for new projects, including Australia\u2019s Newcrest (ASX: NCM) for its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/newcrest-harmony-gold-to-resume-permitting-talks-for-png-project\/\">Wafi Golpu gold and copper asset<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PNG&#8217;s government has refused to extend the company&rsquo;s lease, citing environmental and social concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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