Barrick Gold Chief Foresees Early Restart of Porgera Gold Mine

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Mark Bristow, President and Chief Executive Officer, Barrick Gold Corporation expressed hopes of an early restart to Porgera gold mine operations in Enga province of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

In an interview to Post Courier, a leading PNG-based newspaper, Bristow noted that the company intends to complete the necessary steps required to restart the mine in a few months rather than years, which it normally takes for an entirely new project.

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It must be noted that New Porgera Limited (NPL) had recently filed an application with the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) for a Special Mining Lease (SML) and supporting tenements for the Porgera Gold Mine. This is considered as a significant step closer to the mine’s restart. However, there are still a number of important steps to be taken before Porgera can restart, he added.

The key steps include transfer of the mine’s existing environment permits from Barrick Nuigini Limited (BNL) to NPL, successful completion of NPL’s application for the SML, the convening of a Development Forum, negotiation of Compensation Agreements with landowners and conclusion of other related agreements.

Barrick Gold Corporation stated that it is difficult to predict how much time it may take for the completion of the above steps. However, it will be a matter of months and not years, it said.