Bougainville island in Papua New Guinea may see the Bougainville Copper mine being reopened as negotiations begin between the new government and the landowners.
The president of the autonomous Bougainville Government John Momis told the press that discussions were going well.
He also said that they were satisfied that they were doing the right thing. It would help kick start developments in Bougainville. The mine was closed in 1989 when the island disintegrated into civil war. The copper mine at Panguna used to provide 20% of the government’s revenue before that.
The Bougainville Copper company is owned 53.58% by Rio Tinto, and 19.06 % by the Papua New Guinea government. The remaining 27.36 % is held by public shareholders. It has copper reserves estimated at 3 million tonnes and gold production would be in the range of 400,000 ounces per year. The mine would be the world’s largest producers of both gold and copper if successful production begins.
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