Up until 1970, there was little mineral extraction in Papua New Guinea, but since the 1970s mineral extraction has dominated the national economy.[1]
With the exception of the Ok Tedi Mine (copper-gold) almost all of the mining in PNG has been gold mining. The two largest gold mines are the Porgera (Enga Province) and Lihir (New Ireland Province) mines. In 2009, the Hidden Valley gold and silver mine (Morobe Province) commenced production. 2010 will see the start of production from the Ramu nickel-cobalt mine...Read more:Papua New Guinea's Hidden Nun, from Women of the World
With the exception of the Ok Tedi Mine (copper-gold) almost all of the mining in PNG has been gold mining. The two largest gold mines are the Porgera (Enga Province) and Lihir (New Ireland Province) mines. In 2009, the Hidden Valley gold and silver mine (Morobe Province) commenced production. 2010 will see the start of production from the Ramu nickel-cobalt mine...Read more:Papua New Guinea's Hidden Nun, from Women of the World
All the mining activity that has taken place in the country since 1970 has produced approximately 5 million tonnes of copper between 1970 and 2007. The country produced 202,277 t of copper in 2003 compared to 211,315 in 2002, all of which was produced by the Ok Tedi Mine the most active mine in the country. The mine reported that 29.32 Mt of ore was mined (approximately 240,000 t/d material moved) and 29.26 Mt milled (77,000 t/d) with a head grade of 0.78% Cu and 0.8 g/t Au. Respective gold and copper recoveries for 2003 at Ok Tedi were 68% and 84%...Read more:Papua New Guinea's Hidden Nun, from Women of the World
Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) developed the Panguna mine, producing copper concentrate from 1972 until May 1989, when mining operations were suspended due to civil unrest in the province.[5] Rio Tinto is a major shareholder of the BCL (54%) and is currently reviewing its stake in the company. The deposit has a life of mine of some 20 years and has a capacity to produce 180 000t of copper and 480 000 oz gold per year. This development marked one of the first major investments in PNG, and was at one stage one of the world's largest copper - gold mines...Read more:Papua New Guinea's Hidden Nun, from Women of the World
