http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/...ry-e6frg8zx-1225976819920
Nochmal ausdrucken, zurücklehnen und gemütlich einen Tee dazu genießen....und wer glaubt noch nicht genügend zu besitzen.....die Börse hat noch offen ;-)))
Rising prices boost Bougainville mine hopes
PENT-UP demand for development and spiralling prices are creating pressure for the reopening of Bougainville copper and gold mine.
A prospect that has been unthinkable for decades.
Peter Taylor, who has been chairman of Bougainville Copper (BCL) since 2003 and managing director since 2000 and who worked on Bougainville as company secretary from 1985 to 1987, is a mining industry veteran whose priorities are all about people.
He says his focus is not on the hardware or the engineering or on raising the $3 billion that the reopening is expected to cost.
He says: "We must ensure the landowners retain number one importance. And the Bougainville government's support is also critical. All the signs are that the leaders on Bougainville want the mine open, and as soon as possible, rather than just some day. And the national government agrees."
Bougainville's new President, John Momis, elected for five years in June, is a former Catholic priest and former deputy prime minister.
While campaigning for the PNG election in 1987, he famously presented a letter to the then BCL managing director, Paul Quodling, that demanded the company give 3 per cent of its gross income to the Bougainville provincial government.
The request received wide support on Bougainville, but Quodling said it was impossible to meet, adding to tensions that soon exploded on the ground.
During the civil war, a leading rebel attempted to shoot Momis at close range from behind, but the pistol jammed.
Momis now says: "We are keen to reopen the Panguna mine, and we are holding talks with the landowners. Of course, Bougainville needs the mine to be reopened under a new regime. All parties should learn lessons from the crisis, and collaborate to build a better future."
Momis recently led a group of 34 -- including former combatants -- to China, where he recently served as PNG ambassador. China is likely to play a role in the rebuilt mine as leading customer, equity partner, or both.
Bougainville is an autonomous region within PNG, and under a peace accord with PNG, it has the right to administer its own mining and land laws. The World Bank has been funding a program to help Bougainville define its own mining regime.
Taylor hopes that this will complement the PNG mining legislation, which has helped facilitate a boom in foreign investment there.
Besides the $16.5bn ExxonMobil LNG project, there are promising gas finds in Western Province, and an onshore project in Gulf Province led by InterOil. The Frieda River copper-gold project led by Xstrata is due to move soon to full feasibility mode, and the Wafi project -- also copper-gold -- is not far behind. These are each likely to become $4bn-$5bn ventures.
The latter is owned by Newcrest and Harmony, which are commissioning the Hidden Valley gold-silver project.
Marengo Mining is proceeding with a feasibility study at Yandera, a copper-gold deposit not far from the $1.4bn Ramu Nickel project being developed by China's Metallurgical Construction Corp.
Since BCL suspended the mine, many groups have tried to control the promising mining zone.
"The Bougainvilleans have seen them come to the island, and haven't liked them," Taylor says.
So they have come back to BCL -- the devil they know -- despite all their past disagreements. The rogues have done BCL and its ultimate parent, Rio Tinto, a favour.
The 10-year civil war on Bougainville had many complex causes, and was a nightmare for many Rio executives.
The conflict led to big changes in how miners relate to host communities worldwide. So the reopening of the Bougainville mine would be redemptive for many groups, including Rio.
There is no timetable. Once an agreement is reached with the landowners, a feasibility study is approved and finance is in place, it will take a further two to three years to get mining under way again. The lengthiest part of that process would be the lead-time needed to order the huge trucks and other equipment to operate the mine.
Taylor says BCL will facilitate landowners' meetings and help ensure the reconciliation process goes ahead, "but we're mindful that we should not be seen to influence the proceedings.
"Everything needs to be worked out as the agreement is renegotiated -- including environmental issues such as tailings disposal, revenue sharing, ownership. And the landowners need to be resourced to participate effectively."
This is in marked contrast with the first incarnation of the mine, when the company was not permitted by the Australian government to negotiate directly with landowners.
"The situation is quite the reverse this time," Taylor says. "The landowners are setting the agenda, although everyone will put their wish-lists on the table."
He wants to see the landowners obtain equity in the project because it makes them "part of your business" and gives them a share of the income stream.
"The balance needs to change in favour of those who are giving up the most, and they are the landowners. To make the project successful and saleable, they have to be part of the company."
Raising the $3bn will be a relatively minor challenge.
Three big selling points of the project are that it already has a port at Loloho, an access road winding up 30km of rugged terrain, and has pre-stripped ore ready to extract, with 200 million tonnes available immediately.
"They give us a big leg-up," Taylor says.
Technology has improved since the mine was suspended, he says, and tailings can be safely stored even in an earthquake-prone area. "The landowners have to say which method they prefer," Taylor says. Previously, they were disposed of in the Jaba River, a cause of controversy.
They will also discuss whether workers fly in and fly out to the island or are based there, as they were before in the largely destroyed town of Arawa. Taylor says that the more local workers can be recruited, the better. "We have received numerous inquiries from ex-employees asking when we are re-opening."
The Ok Tedi mine would be an obvious source of skilled staff as it starts to scale down as the resource declines.
The other big factor exciting interest in the reopening of the Panguna pit is the likelihood that it will lead to the end of the moratorium on exploration that began in 1971.
Seven exploration licences covering 20 per cent of the island are held by BCL, and the potential to find new orebodies near the existing pit are considerable.
No one else holds any other exploration permits, even though a German-funded aeromagnetic survey 25 years ago revealed many highly prospective zones.
Through the past 21 years, the principal owner, Rio Tinto, did not close down BCL -- it has remained listed, playing a low-key role, waiting for the climate to change.
Its share price has soared as the likelihood of a reopening dawned on investors. They were rallied by Axel Sturm, the energetic German president of the European shareholders of Bougainville Copper. The company has even made a profit most years, from placing its remaining cash in Australian listed investment companies.
Taylor says that since the mine closed, the BCL Foundation has continued to fund 100 scholarships a year.
In a US court case, Bougainvilleans have claimed damages from Rio over the operation of the mine. This has become a test case for the extent of American jurisdiction, but no decision is likely until after the mine has reopened.
Former Bougainville Revolutionary Army "general" Ishmael Toroama insists that all the demands made by Bougainvilleans during the fighting must be met: "Panguna -- after the war -- now belongs to all Bougainvilleans," he says, insisting that the original claims for environmental compensation remain extant.
But the recently elected Bougainville government, and the Panguna Land Owners Association, have begun intense discussions.
No one is publicly discussing timetables yet. But in the minds of most of the stakeholders, the countdown has already begun. |
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