Pacific island Bougainville vows action after alleged mine arson
The Autonomous Bougainville Government vowed to take action after alleged arson destroyed equipment at a giant Papua New Guinea copper mine that recently began efforts to restart almost 40 years after it was shut down.
Heavy machinery and vehicles belonging to India’s Lloyds Metals & Energy Ltd. — the Panguna mine’s newly appointed contractor — were destroyed in the fire, RNZ Pacific reported.
In August, Lloyds was given approval by Bougainville – impoverished islands that are currently an autonomous region within Papua New Guinea but seeking independence — to begin feasibility work on redeveloping Panguna despite having skipped the normal bidding process. Lloyds, little known outside its home country of India, beat one of the world’s largest copper producers, China’s CMOC Group Ltd., to become Bougainville’s preferred partner for the costly, high-stakes venture.
The project is part of a global dash for copper as the trend toward electrification is expected to boost demand for the wiring metal in the years ahead. Panguna’s remaining reserves are estimated at 5.3 million tons of copper and 19.3 million ounces of gold, which would be worth about $160 billion at current prices.
“The government and people of Bougainville will not be intimidated by individuals or factions seeking to undermine our efforts to redevelop the Panguna Mine,” President Ishmael Toroama said in a LinkedIn post Sunday. “I strongly condemn the actions of those who assaulted personnel and destroyed equipment at the Lloyds Metals camp in Panguna this morning.”
The incident follows an OCCRP report alleging that Toroama took a bribe to award Lloyds the mine deal, accepting an offer from a Lloyds executive to pay for his wife’s kidney transplant in India, just weeks before signing the agreement with the company.
Panguna was closed down in 1989 under the ownership of Rio Tinto Group due to local protests over environmental damage and revenue distribution, which degenerated into a civil conflict that killed as many as 20,000 people. A decade ago, Rio gave away its majority interest in the firm which then held the license.
(By Preeti Soni and Satviki Sanjay)
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