(A) Opened

Panguna

Autonomous Region of Bougainville

Gold/silver/copper

1969

1972

1989

660

Unknown

Panguna was established by Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL)—a subsidiary of Rio Tinto. At its inception, the national government of PNG held 19 per cent of BCL’s shares. The mine was closed in 1989 due to conflict and has not reopened. In 2016, Rio Tinto transferred its 53.8% shareholdings in BCL for distribution to the Autonomous Bougainville Government (36.4%) and the national PNG government (36.4%, which includes the original 19%). BCL is listed, and the remaining shares are held by a range of parties.

Ok Tedi

Western

Gold/silver/copper

1981

1984

Still active

990

39%

At its inception, the shares of Ok Tedi Mining Company Ltd (OTML) were distributed between BHP (30%), Amoco (30%), German companies (20%) and the State of Papua New Guinea (20%). BHP increased its shareholdings, but in 2002 withdrew from the mine as a consequence of the Ok Tedi environmental disaster and consequent legal action and transferred its majority shareholding (52%) to the newly created, self-governing PNG Sustainable Development Program (SDP). After the transfer, project shareholding was as follows: SDP (52%), the State of Papua New Guinea (30%) and Inmet Mining Corporation (18%). Inmet was subsequently bought out. In 2013, the PNG government nationalised the mine—two-thirds (67%) of OTML shares are now owned by the national government, and the remaining one-third by the provincial government and landowners.

Misima

Milne Bay

Gold/silver

1988

1989

2004

206

4%

At its inception, the mine was a joint venture between Placer Dome Inc (80%) and the PNG state-owned Orogen Minerals Ltd (20%). Since its closure in 2004, ownership of the mine has gone through multiple hands, but none were able to reopen the mine. Currently, Kingston Resources Limited owns the mine.

Porgera

Enga

Gold/silver

1989

1990

See text

1,000

22%

The Porgera Joint Venture’s original shareholders were Placer Dome (30%), Highlands Pacific (30%), Renison Goldfields Consolidated (30%) and the PNG government (10%). Placer Dome went on to gain more shares at the expense of its other partners, eventually becoming the major shareholder. There were then a number of negotiations, mergers and acquisitions, including efforts by the PNG government to increase its ownership. As of 2020, Barrick Niugini Limited (BNL) owned 95% of Porgera. It was the operator of the mine and a 50/50 joint venture between Barrick Gold and Zijin Mining. The remaining 5% was shared equally by the Enga Provincial Government and Porgera landowners. In 2020, the government of PNG announced it would not renew BNL’s 30-year mining lease, and that the mine would be run by the state-owned Kumul Mining. This decision was challenged domestically and internationally. Following negotiations, it was agreed that 51% of shares would be owned by PNG stakeholders (36% national government, 15% provincial government and landowners), and the other 49% would be retained by BNL, which would continue as the operator. The mine reopened in 2024.

Hides

Hela

Gas

1990

1991

Still active

199

4%

The Hides gas field was discovered by BP, which relinquished its interest to ExxonMobil—the developer and operator of the gas fields. The majority of gas production from the Hides field is directed toward the PNG LNG project (see below for more detail). However, a small proportion of gas production was dedicated to the earlier-established Hides Gas-to-Electricity Project—operated and entirely owned by Santos—which provides electricity to the Porgera gold mine.

Kutubu Petroleum

Southern Highlands

Oil

1991

1992

Still active

1,190

22%

The Kutubu project was operated by Chevron Niugini—a local subsidiary of Chevron—until 2003. In 2003, Santos acquired Chevron Niugini and took over operations. Santos is the majority shareholder (60.05%); landowners have a minority share through Petroleum Resources Kutubu (6.75%).

Wapolu

Milne Bay

Gold/silver

1994

1995

1997

12

0%

Owned by Crater Gold Mining when the mine was in operation. Currently, Adyton is trying to reopen the mine.

Tolukuma

Central

Gold/silver

1995

1996

2018

45

0%

The Tolokuma mine has gone through multiple owners. Dome Resources developed the mine and started production in 1995. In 2000, DRDGOLD Ltd acquired Dome Resources and the Tolukuma mine. In 2006 Emperor Mines acquired the mine, which was then sold to Petromin in 2008, which then sold it to Asidokona Mining Resources in 2015. In 2018, the National Court ordered a liquidation. In 2022, Lole Mining Limited was granted a mining lease for the Tolukuma mine.

Lihir

New Ireland

Gold/silver

1995

1997

Still active

1,147

12%

The Lihir project was owned by Lihir Gold Limited (LGL), which consisted of many different shareholders—none of them with a commanding interest. One of the influential shareholders of LGL was Rio Tinto, which established and owned the Lihir Management Company to develop and operate the mine for LGL. In 2005, Rio Tinto divested its interest in the Lihir Management Company and its operations were then incorporated into LGL. In 2010, LGL was acquired by Newcrest and became a 100% owned subsidiary company of Newcrest, which was itself acquired by Newmont in 2023. At one point, PNG national and provincial government and landowners held 30% of Lihir shares (through MRL); this was reduced over time, eventually to zero; however, most of the landowner share was reinvested in a diversified portfolio by MRL Capital.

Gobe main

Gulf/Southern Highlands

Oil

1997

1998

Still active

213

2%

Gobe main is operated by Santos. Ownership interests are as follows: Santos (10%), ExxonMobil (14.5%), Merlin Petroleum Company (JX Nippon) (73.5%) and Petroleum Resource Gobe Ltd (2%), the last representing landowners.

SE Gobe

Southern Highlands

Oil

1997

1998

Still active

524

5%

South East Gobe is operated by Santos. Ownership interests are as follows: Santos (22.3%), ExxonMobil (7.7%), Merlin Petroleum Company (JX Nippon) (39.1%), Barracuda Ltd (Santos) (7.5%), Petroleum Resources Gobe Ltd (2%) on behalf of landowners and Kumul Petroleum (21.4%) on behalf of the national government.

Moran

Hela Province

Oil

1997

1998

Still active

The Moran project comprises three license areas: petroleum development licence (PDL) 2, PDL 5 and PDL 6. It is operated by Santos. The interests are as follow: Santos (49.5%), ExxonMobil (26.8%), Merlin Petroleum Company (JX Nippon) (8.3%), Kumul Petroleum (11.3%) and landowners (4.1%).

Kainantu Gold

Eastern Highlands

Gold

2004

2006

Still active

127.7

1%

The mine was first developed by Highlands Pacific but was sold to Barrick Gold in 2007. Production stopped in 2009. In 2014 the mine was bought by K92 Mining, a Canadian company, and was restarted in 2016.

Hidden Valley

Morobe

Gold

2005

2007

Still active

757.6

3%

Hidden Valley was originally built and owned by Harmony Gold; in 2008, Newcrest Mining bought into the project and formed the Morobe Mining Joint venture—a 50/50 split between Harmony and Newcrest; however, in 2020, 100% ownership reverted to Harmony Gold.

Simberi Gold

New Ireland

Gold

2006

2007

Still active

51.2

0%

Allied Gold originally opened and operated the mine. In 2012, Allied Gold ceased to exist after it merged with St Barbara—the new owner of the mine.

Ramu Nickel and Cobalt

Madang

Nickel/cobalt

2006

2008

Still active

2,539.4

10%

The Ramu Nickel project is a joint venture between China Metallurgical Construction (85%), which is the operator, MRDC (6.44%) on behalf of the provincial and local governments, and Highlands Pacific (8.56%). In 2019, Cobalt 27, now Nickel 28, acquired Highlands Pacific and its interest in this project.

South-East Mananda Oil

Hela

Oil

2006

2006

Closed

The project operator was Oil Search (72.3%) in partnership with Merlin Petroleum (19.8%) and Petroleum Resources Kutubu (7.9%) on behalf of landowners.

Sinivet Gold

East New Britain

Gold

2008

2012

Closed

A very small gold mine, operated by Canadian miner New Guinea Gold; abandoned after protests from landowners and operating license not renewed; shrouded in environmental controversy.

PNG LNG

Hela/Southern Highlands/

Gulf/Central

Gas

2010

2014

Still active

51,630

133%

ExxonMobil is the operator of PNG LNG and holds a 33.2% interest. The other joint venture partners are Santos (39.9%), Kumul Petroleum (19.4%) on behalf of the national government, JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration (4.7%) and MRDC (2.8%) on behalf of the provincial government and landowners.

(B) Prospective

Note: Only major prospective projects shown. The PNG government is expected to exercise its right to buy a minority equity share in these projects.

Wafi-Golpu

Morobe

Gold/copper

Newmont and Harmony Gold currently each own 50% of the Wafi-Golpu Project.

Papua LNG

Gulf

Gas

The main co-owners of Papua LNG are TotalEnergies (40.1%), ExxonMobil (36.5%) and Santos (22.8%). In July 2022, TotalEnergies announced the commencement of upstream front-end engineering and design studies.

P’nyang

Western

Gas

Will be operated by ExxonMobil. Currently, ExxonMobil has a 49 % interest in P’nyang, while Santos has 38.5% and JX Nippon has 12.5%.

Pasca A

Western

Offshore gas

To be operated and partly owned by Twinza Oil.

Frieda River

East Sepik

Gold/copper

Owned by PanAust (80%) and Highlands Pacific (20%).