Govt, media briefed on Misima’s mine closure
Copyright 2000 Post-Courier (PNG)
December 15, 2000
MISIMA Mines is the first of PNG’s major resource projects to formally present to Government its detailed plans for mine closure.
In an era when there is more talk about closing mines than opening new ones, Misima’s closure strategy may become the model which other projects, including Ok Tedi and Porgera, will follow.
With the social and economic dislocation that followed the abrupt closure of the Bougainville mine still fresh in the memory of Papua New Guineans, Misima Mines is making a major effort to ensure that the closure of its mine, equally significant to both national revenues and the island community, will be as well planned as the process that started the mine almost 12 years ago.
Mining will halt on Misima in March next year, followed by four more years of processing low-grade stockpiles.
Since April 1989, Misima has contributed more than K200 million to national and provincial government revenues, paid K20 million in royalties, spent K15 million on tax credit infrastructure, trained countless tradesmen and women, and overall made a very solid contribution to PNG’s resource based economy.
All that is about to change. The Misima Mines workforce will shrink from 740 to 325 when mining ends.
The combination of lower grade ore and low gold prices will restrict the project’s ability to maintain its previous support of the PNG economy.
The recent reduction in the tax rate for tax credit scheme projects from 2 per cent to 0.75 per cent is expected to affect some planned projects but the company welcomed the inclusion of maintenance in the scheme.
After four more years, this will stop altogether, as stockpile processing finishes and the people of Misima return to more traditional ways of making a living. They will have many advantages as a legacy of mining.
Roads, wharves, an airport, a new high school and a modern hospital have all been built.
An educated population, with a decade of experience gained from employment at the mine and its various corporation activities, is already planning to export its skills to projects elsewhere in PNG.
At home on the island, locally organised committees have taken responsibility for planning the community’s future directions and needs, and in co-operation with Misima Mines sustainability staff, have invited the participation of shareholders, the private sector, government, NGO’s and aid agencies.
The planning processes are focussed not only on mine closure, but on ways of maintaining the higher levels of business opportunity and community welfare that have been achieved during the life of the mine.
Agriculture will play its important role in sustaining village life, and Misima Mines has initiated an extensive program to rehabilitate existing crops, introduce new cash crops, establish and train village people in new gardening methods. Maintaining the present high standards of community health is another priority, together with strengthening the role of women and families.
Misima Mines recognises that the success of its post-mining strategies will set an example for other resource sector project to follow, and is working closely with government and the community.
Sustainability is a significant corporate objective of Misima Mine’s parent company Place Dome, and considerable international attention is directed towards making a success of PNG’s transition into an important phase in its history, when mines and oilfields are closing as well as opening.