A signing ceremony is set for Friday on a deal to reopen the Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea, a spokesman for the joint venture between Barrick Gold and China’s Zijin Mining told Reuters.
The mine has been shut for a year after a dispute over the terms of benefit-sharing between the miners, landowners and the government.
“A signing ceremony is currently scheduled for 3 p.m. (Papua New Guinea),” a spokesman for Barrick Niugini (BNL) told Reuters in an email. More details would be released after the function, he added.
Barrick and Zijin Mining Group each own 47.5% of the operation, with the remaining 5% under Mineral Resources Enga, an investment vehicle for landowners.
Details of any ownership change were still unclear after Barrick said this week that a joint venture between Barrick Niugini and the government would run the mine “on the basis of increased Papua New Guinea ownership and a fair sharing of economic benefit.”
The Porgera joint venture is an open pit and underground gold mine in the province of Enga, located about 600 km (373 miles) northwest of the capital, Port Moresby.
Porgera produced nearly 600 000 oz of gold in 2019 before being put on care and maintenance.
