Mark Bristow at the signing of the New Porgera Progress Agreement.
The 700 000 oz/y Porgera gold mine that has been shut since 2020, is inching closer to reopening, with Barrick Gold, the government of Papua New Guinea and New Porgera on Friday signing a new agreement that commits all parties to reopen the mine at the earliest opportunity.
Following the signing of the New Porgera Progress Agreement, Barrick president and CEO Mark Bristow said there was strong support from all stakeholders to get the mine back in operation as soon as possible.
“It’s been a long journey but in the process, we have secured the buy-in of all the stakeholders. For Barrick, the reopening of the mine would represent another victory for our host-country partnership model which has been so successful in Tanzania and has now also been adopted for the new Reko Diq copper/gold project in Pakistan,” he said.
The equity in New Porgera is shared 51% by Papua New Guinea stakeholders, including local landowners and the Enga provincial government. Economic benefits will be shared 53% by the Papua New Guinea stakeholders and 47% by Barrick Niugini, which will operate the mine.
“Localisation is an essential part of our partnership philosophy so New Porgera will, whenever possible, source the goods and services it requires from businesses genuinely based and owned in Porgera, the Enga province and Papua New Guinea. Similarly, it will give preference to locals in recruiting employees for the reopening mine,” said Bristow.
Porgera hosts an orebody with measured and indicated resources of 10-million ounces and inferred resources of 3.4-million ounces. After initial ramp-up and optimisation of the Wangima pit, the mine is forecast to produce an average of 700 000 oz/y achieving a milestone towards its potential tier one status.