Barrick JV to retrench most of Porgera’s staff
A metallurgist at work at Porgera, in Papua New Guinea. Most workers will be retrenched by the end of next month.
Global gold major Barrick has told the workforce at its Porgera joint venture (JV) mine that most of them will be retrenched in the coming weeks, affecting 2 650 Papua New Guinea nationals.
Expatriate employees had already been retrenched and the local workforce would have their employment terminated before the end of July, operator Barrick Niugini Limited (BNL) said in a statement on Wednesday.
BNL, which operates the mine as a JV between Barrick and China’s Zijin Mining, is locked in a dispute with Papua New Guinea over the government’s refusal to extend a special mining lease to Porgera. The government’s decision is the subject of an ongoing judicial review in the courts.
Relations between Barrick and the government have deteriorated since the rejection of the special lease application in April, with Papua New Guinea recently also accusing the mining company of illegally exporting gold and silver to Australia.
“We understand that the loss of employment will have a significant impact on workers, their families and the Porgera community, as well as on the economy of Enga province and the nation. We sympathise with them and we share their frustration at the situation the government has created. We will continue diligently to seek a resolution to this issue,” Barrick CEO Mark Bristow said in a statement.
The mine was placed on care and maintenance in late April and during this time, BNL continued to employ the Porgera work force in the hope that the dispute could be resolved.
“Only essential services personnel required for the care-and-maintenance programme will be retained to ensure the safety of the community, the environment and the mine infrastructure,” added Bristow.
The retrenchments would cost BNL about $52-million.
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