Photo: Philip Samar
According to the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, the government must make greater efforts to safeguard the economy by encouraging exploration to find new projects in the resources sector.
Chamber Vice-President Philip Samar said that the resource sector has made direct contributions to the government totaling K2.9 billion to State-owned enterprises, K1.2 billion in taxes, K1 billion in royalties, K637 million in fees and levies to state agencies, and K444 million for social projects in impacted communities. These figures are based on the most recent data from the 2019 EITI country report.
The majority of the current mines, according to Samar, are mature, although a few only handle lesser grades and have a relatively short lifespan.
“PNG has had a very significant drop in production from our major exports over the last three years,” he said.
“Gold was down 40 per cent due to the closure of Porgera, copper down 55 per cent and nickel down 15 per cent.
“While this has been significantly offset by increased commodity prices, this is a worrying trend that must be addressed by doing more in the exploration stage to ensure the discovery, development, growth, and continuity of the mining sector in PNG.
“This does not measure the multiplier effect which adds further to government contributions, suppliers and contractors with every mine employee also contributing to the economy when spending their wages,” Samar said the multiplier effects were greater when there was a major construction project occurring.
“This has a great significance when we consider how our economy recovers from the Covid-19 induced weakness over the next five years with the Porgera restart, Wafi Golpu, and Papua LNG approvals, and the Kainantu mine expansion all expected to occur during this period,” he said.
Reference: The National (1 September 2022). “Promote exploration, govt told”.
