Papua New Guinea urges mining investors to continue developing their projects.
Doubling the GDP
In Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister James Marape wants to increase GDP to $55 billion. This is double the current GDP since he took office in 2019. James Marape has five gas and mining projects.
This is the Papua LNG project, managed by TotalEnergies in Papua New Guinea. The Prime Minister is also counting on the Wafi-Golpu copper-gold project jointly owned by Australia’s Newcrest and South Africa’s Harmony Gold Mining. Indeed, the Wafi-Golpu copper-gold project is the Pacific nation’s largest undeveloped mining resource.
The country is also engaged in talks for a special mining lease to restart the Porgera gold mine. This mine has been closed for over two and a half years. The closure was the result of an agreement reached with co-owners Barrick Gold Corp. and the Chinese group Zijin Mining.
A political will
In Papua New Guinea, James Marape is pushing for the country to receive a larger share of the profits from mining projects. He has also been pushing for energy projects since he became Prime Minister. For example, it is renegotiating agreements with energy giants ExxonMobil Corp and TotalEnergies on their gas projects.
Prime Minister James Marape emphasizes the country’s proximity to resource-hungry Asian countries. Thus, it perceives this proximity as an advantage for its mining and LNG exports. In addition, the largest foreign investment in the country is the Papua New Guinea LNG project, managed by Exxon.
James Marape, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea says:
“Last year when I visited China, I was able to sell 3 million metric tons of gas. Papua New Guinea is using its bilateral network and multilateral networks to trade and can find markets.”
The next major gas development awaiting a final investment decision is the Papua LNG project. In addition, TotalEnergies states that it is hesitating whether or not to pursue the project towards the end of 2023.
