PORGERA GOLD MINE STEERED BACK TOWARDS WORLD-CLASS PRODUCTION
EMRI TO IMPROVE KNOWLEDGE FRAMEWORK OF CRITICAL MINERALS IN US
• GLOBAL NEWS
services it requires from businesses genuinely based and owned in Porgera , the Enga province and Papua New Guinea . Similarly , it will give preference to locals in recruiting employees for the reopening mine .”
Global news
PAPUA NEW GUINEA :
PORGERA GOLD MINE STEERED BACK TOWARDS WORLD-CLASS PRODUCTION
On 31 March this year , the government of Papua New Guinea , Barrick Niugini Limited and New Porgera Limited signed an agreement to progress with the resumption of operations at the Porgera gold mine , which have been suspended since 2020 . 1
Porgera hosts an orebody with measured and indicated resources of 10 million ounces 2 and inferred resources of 3.4 million ounces . 2 After initial ramp up and optimisation of the Wangima pit , the mine is forecast to produce an average of 700 000 ounces per year , achieving a milestone towards its potential Tier One status .
References : 1 . Porgera was placed on temporary care and maintenance on April 25 , 2020 and remains excluded from Barrick Gold Corporation ’ s 2023 guidance . A guidance update to include Porgera following both the execution of definitive agreements to implement the Commencement Agreement and the finalisation of a timeline for the resumption of full mine operations is expected .
2 . On a 100 % basis . Estimated in accordance with National Instrument 43- 101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects as required by Canadian securities regulatory authorities as of December 31 , 2022 . Measured resources of 5.6 million tonnes grading 5.55g / t , representing 1.0 million ounces of gold . Indicated resources of 79.0 million tonnes grading 3.62g / t , representing 9.2 million ounces of gold . Inferred resources of 33.0 million tonnes grading 3.2g / t , representing 3.4 million ounces of gold . Complete attributable mineral reserve and mineral resource data for all of Barrick ’ s mines and projects , including tonnes , grades , and ounces , can be found in the Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources Tables provided on pages 37 to 46 of Barrick ’ s 2022 Annual Information Form and Form 40-F filed on SEDAR at www . sedar . com and on EDGAR at www . sec . gov .
USA :
EMRI TO IMPROVE KNOWLEDGE FRAMEWORK OF CRITICAL MINERALS IN US
The New Porgera Progress Agreement ( NPPA ) confirms that all parties are committed to reopening the mine at the earliest opportunity , in line with the terms of the Porgera Project Commencement Agreement and the New Porgera Limited Shareholders Agreement – both concluded in 2022 . The new Porgera project team will now move ahead with the filings for a special mining lease and will progress the other conditions set out in the Commencement Agreement for the reopening of the mine .
The equity in New Porgera is shared 51 % by Papua New Guinea ( PNG ) stakeholders , including local landowners and the Enga provincial government . Economic benefits will be shared 53 % by the PNG stakeholders and 47 % by Barrick Niugini Limited , which will operate the mine .
After the signing ceremony , Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow said there was strong support from all stakeholders to get Porgera reopened as soon as possible .
Geological expedition .
Images supplied by US Critical Materials Corp
“ It ’ s been a long journey but in the process we have secured the buy-in of all the stakeholders . For Barrick , the reopening of the mine would represent another victory for our host-country partnership model which has been so successful in Tanzania and has now also been adopted for the new Reko Diq copper-gold project in Pakistan ,” Bristow said .
“ Localisation is an essential part of our partnership philosophy so New Porgera will , whenever possible , source the goods and
Underground mineralisation .
8 • African Mining • July 2023 www . africanmining . co . za