Aerial view of the Porgera gold mine. Photo: Zijin Mining
A huge mine in Papua New Guinea, closed for more than three years in a dispute over a lease, is set to re-open next week.
The company, New Porgera Ltd, in Enga Province, has announced that all legal and contractual conditions necessary for the re-opening of the Porgera mine have now been met and it is officially set to restart operations on 22 December.
The company said the first gold production will be due in the first quarter of next year.
In announcing the decision, the company said "the result is an unprecedented partnership between Papua New Guinea and two leading global mining companies, Barrick Gold Corporation and Zijin Mining."
The majority ownership in New Porgera Ltd is held within PNG - to be divided between the national and provincial governments and the landowners with Barrick and Zijin taking the balance.
Barrick (Niugini) Ltd will manage the mine and said it will be employing more than 2,300 workers by June next year and over 3,000 by the end of 2024.
The company said the mine, over its 20-year life is expected to earn the PNG shareholders US$7.3 billion dollars, based on an assumed gold price of US$1,800 dollars per ounce.
PNG earnings of US$2.8 billion are anticipated in the first ten years.
The new compensation agreements for the landowners around Porgera are yet to be calculated so last month the PNG parliament amended the legislation affecting the mine to allow the existing arrangements to stay in place until the new agreements are reached.