Harmony Gold CEO Peter Steenkamp addressing the virtual Gold Forum Americas conference.
Gold miner Harmony is keen to re-engage the Papua New Guinea negotiating team “at the earliest opportunity” to secure a special mining lease (SML) for the Wafi-Golpu gold/copper project, which it owns in a joint venture with Australian miner Newcrest Mining.
In an address to the Denver Gold Forum Americas, Harmony CEO Peter Steenkamp reiterated that Wafi-Golpu remained a potential “game changer” for the gold miner.
“We are encouraged by recent statements by the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea that Wafi-Golpu is a project of national priority to be urgently advanced,” he said.
Harmony and Newcrest have started the permitting process for Wafi-Golpu in 2016. The JV partners had been hoping to secure a mining lease over the major gold and copper deposit in early 2019, before a change in Papua New Guinea’s leadership and a shift in policy led to the project missing initial permitting timelines.
Resources companies are closely watching developments in Papua New Guinea, after Prime Minister James Marape refused to extend gold major Barrick’s SML for its Porgera gold mine. Instead, the lease was granted to a State-owned mining company, Kumul Minerals.