There is renewed interest in re-opening Bougainville's huge Panguna mine.
Social and environmental destruction caused by the mine sparked the civil war in 1989, forcing the mine to shut.
There have been calls ever since for the then majority owner, Rio Tinto, to sort out what came to be called the 'legacy issues' but several years ago the company walked away, giving its shares away.
Don Wiseman has more.
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The Panguna copper and gold mine in Bougainville was closed down for operations in 1989 at the start of the civil war. Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades