Researchers from Australia and the US have come to the conclusion that treating mine tailing with lime aided in stabilising arsenic in soil and sediments around the mine - which results in preventing toxic chemicals from remaining dissolved in water and impacting people and the environment. This comes after researchers have conducted a study at the Porger...

Following payment of an interim dividend of PGK150 million last September, Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML) has said that the OTML Board has a final dividend of PGK400 million for 2020.According to Chairman Sir Moi Avei, in spite of the health crisis, “OTML has had a strong and profitable year and this has enabled the Company to complete the PGK800 million self-...

The Papua New Guinea National Stock Exchange (PNGX) has encouraged foreign businesses in the country to register with the national stock exchange. According to chairman David Lawrence, this will give Papua New Guineans more opportunities to have an ownership interest in the wealth of the country. “Publicly listed companies are significantly under-represen...

Replace foreign fabricated steel in the market.This was a statement given by Steel Industries chairman Frank McQuoid who witnessed a significant decline in the steel fabrication market. He added that the way to move forward was to replace foreign fabricated steel. In the past two decades, PNG fabricators lost up to 80 per cent of the structural steel fabr...

Total senior management team will be in the country this week to talk about the next steps in the Papua LNG Project.According to Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua, the meeting between the government and the developer of this project had been planned last week but there were delays on clearances and protocols. They are to arrive this week.The announcements fo...

Through a share placement, Gold developer Geopacific Resources has raised A$140 million to invest for the development of the Woodlark gold project in Papua New Guinea. The placement will be finished in two tranches. The first tranche consists of 43.7-million shares with a cost of 42c each for an initial A$18.4-million under the existing placement company ...

Pioneering research being undertaken in Papua New Guinea by IFC and the Business Coalition For Women will for the first time measure the costs, and crucially, also the benefits to businesses of workplace responses to gender-based violence. The groundbreaking project, launched this month, aims to build evidence demonstrating the benefits to business of p...

For five years the Business Coalition for Women’s leadership training program has been getting results for PNG women and the businesses that employ them. Nearly 200 women from 60 organisations representing a diversity of industries all over the country have graduated from the Coalition’s Certificate IV in Leadership & Management, with many of them bei...

Gold BCR (GBCR): Building an empire of enduring wealth based on innovative blockchain technologies with junior mining companies. In this new era, modern science and innovation technologies are changing rapidly every day. Innovative new disruptive technologies ideas in mining are now meeting together with blockchain. These new disruptive technologies such ...

Cabinet has approved the K20 million submission to establish the facilities of the National Agriculture Quarantine and Inspection Authority (Naqia) across the country.According to Agriculture and Livestock Minister John Simon, “The managing director Joel Alu and I took the submission to the Cabinet in which we got an approval of roughly K20 million to set...

In the next four years (2021 to 2024), the export and production value of spices is expected to rise from K200 million to K500 million.According to the chief executive officer for PNG Spice Industry Board Michael Waisime, plans are to promote and develop a spice industry towards a sustainable economy. He said that to increase the production, training of f...

By Roger Kewa Avinaga Like any other industries that have been impacted by the COVID-19 in 2020, the mining industry has been impacted by the pandemic. The industry has been confronted with numerous challenges. The operations of the mines shut down, some mines have suspended or scaled down operations while others have gone into isolation mode. On the comm...

Local contractors in Porgera have lost an estimated K111 million since the mine shut down.This was disclosed by the Porgera Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) who according to its president, Nickson Pakea, said there were around 136 local contractors who provide servicing, support and heavy equipment parts.He added that businesses in the area have fe...

After an election of its new executives led by President Ian Taruita, the Papua New Guinea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PNGCCI) said that it will build a 100-day work plan for its profile. Aside from Taruita, elected are the following: John Byrne (vice-president Momase and Highlands), Jeff Abel (vice-president Southern), David Stein (vice-president I...

In a statement released by the Independent Consumer Competition of the suggested take over bid, Paradise Company Limited has verified that they are in a dialogue with Kraft Heinz about obtaining Hugo Canning Limited. This makes submission seeking clearance for Hugo Canning Company Ltd, a subsidiary of Kraft Heinz Group. According to Paradise Company Ltd G...

Kumul Training Institute – School of Aviation Studies, a privately-run institution, was recently given the signal to provide aircraft engineering training in the country.PNG Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) acting managing director and chief executive officer Wilson Sagati has presented the school with Certificate Number 141/003 at CASA headquarters...

Kina Petroleum Corporation has submitted an application to delist from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).This follows a delist from Papua New Guinea’s stock exchange (PNGX) and ASX, but subject to receiving approval from ASX to continue with the ASX delisting.It added that the notice of meeting for the shareholders of the company would be convened ...

With the resealing and the road maintenance project to start next year on the New Britain Highway from Kokopo to Bitagunan, Cocoa farmers in East New Britain (ENB) will have better access to markets.This follows after the PNG-Australia partnership has awarded a K9.3 million contract. According to the Australian High Commission, connecting farmers has been...

The availability of foreign currency in PNG is still very challenging.This, according to ANZ PNG managing director Mark Baker, who said this was because the market was still imbalanced. He added that this demand for foreign exchange was outrunning supply which came mainly from the commodity exporters of Papua New Guinea. “This is a structural imbalance an...

An economist said that in light of the pandemic, the economy will come off as weak next year. According to Westpac senior economist Justin Smirk, “We expect that there will be weak economic growth in 2021 following the after-shock and recovery of the Covid-19 on businesses and the economy with mining output also expected to be low. The medium-term recover...

The initiative of the government in subsidising freight services for fresh produce through the transport freight subsidy scheme is continuing.According to Secretary for National planning and monitoring Koney Samuel, the program is still running. He added that they worked on the first phase with the Bismarck Maritime Limited which was done around July and ...

Westpac Group has announced the sale of its businesses to Kina Securities Limited (ASX:KSL) (Kina Bank) for up to $420 million. These are Westpac Fiji and Westpac’s 89.91% stake in Westpac Bank PNG Limited. According to Westpac Group Chief Executive, Specialist Businesses & Group Strategy Jason Yetton, the sale follows the decision of the group to foc...

Australian natural gas developer Santos Ltd has lowered its production cost guidance at US$8.00 (K28)-$8.50 (K29.80)/boe (barrels of oil equivalent) and has upgraded its 2020 production guidance to 87 and 89 million barrels. According to the firm, the upgrade was due to a strong operating performance across its base businesses and represents more than 50 ...

Australian natural gas developer Santos Ltd said that the PNG LNG is a world-class low-cost asset delivering above nameplate productivity. According to chief operations officer David Banks, opportunities for expansion can come in the future. “One core asset that is operated by others is the PNG LNG,” he said. “Exxon Mobil, the operator, does a very good ...