 Papua New Guinea
Lilliputian Nation, Gargantuan
Mines
Ken Reser
July 19, 2005
"... now let's go find
an elephant on the island"
Papua New Guinea (PNG) a nation
the size of California has one of the most heterogeneous indigenous
populations in the world. With several thousand different communities
and villages, most of which boast small populations of only a
few hundred souls, this country has truly suffered isolation
from lack of roads and infrastructure. Tribal warfare in this
land of isolation and mountainous jungle terrain has been ongoing
for millennia. [Editor
(Barb's) note: FYI our own indefatigable traveler, Bob Moriarty,
departs tomorrow on a trip to faraway PNG to visit the operations
of one of our advertisers, South Pacific Minerals]
It is said that there exist
more than 750 different languages, and for each village a different
culture. Strange as it may seem over two thirds of this nations
populous are practicing Christians. These are a people similar
to indigenous peoples everywhere throughout the world, in that
they have very strong attachments and bonds to the land. This
must be understood by mining companies and is tantamount to their
success.
The main central city of Port
Moresby is the nation's capital and boasts the largest population
of approximately 320,000 people. The next smaller cities of Lae
(90,000) and Mt Hagen (70,000) are among the only other large
centers of population. It should be noted that PNG is a democracy
of multi parties, modeled after the British parliamentary system
of government. While it may be said that the indigenous people
of this nation depend largely on subsistence farming and most
are not yet given over to the decadence of the modern world,
they were given mineral riches far beyond the scope and size
of this tiny nation. Much to my amazement I found in my research
that PNG was ranked in 2003 as the 11th largest producer of Gold
in the world.
PNG ranks ahead of such countries
as Brazil, W Africa, Indonesia, Chile & the Philippines in
Gold and Copper. This is truly a part of the world rich in mineral
wealth and discoveries yet to be revealed.
Geologically PNG is situated
directly on the Pacific Ring of Fire and thus has seen a profusion
of epithermal and mesothermal alterations over millions of years.
The Islands of PNG and Indonesia were primarily formed by volcanic
activity and thus enriched the earth's crust with major deposits
of primary and intrusive secondary enrichment mineralization
of Copper & Gold.
From the mountainous peaks
of the Grasberg Mine on Irian Jaya, the eastern portion of the
Island, (52 M Oz Au, 12 Mt Cu) to the depths of OK Tedi's open
pit (10 M Oz Au, 3 Mt Cu), Panguna (16 M Oz Au, 5 Mt Cu), Frieda,
(9 M Oz Au, 5 Mt Cu) to RTZ's Lihir (45 M Oz Au), PDG's Porgera
on the Island of Bougainville(26 M Oz Au), Harmony's Morobe (5-10
M Oz Au) this is a land of tremendous tapped and as yet untapped
Gold & Copper deposits. The aforementioned mines are only
a few of the largest mines currently in production, the list
is growing and PNG will no doubt soon garner world attention
again as there is a strong current upswing in junior mining exploration
activities as well as with the majors having a previous foothold
and extensive mineral properties.
Recently, exploration
work in PNG has turned its attention to the deep sulfide enriched
& hosted Gold & Copper deposits, and it is to this end
that the renewed exploration has begun to occur, albeit as yet
unnoticed by most mining media. Personally I think this new scenario
will soon be very conspicuous and we will see a very notable
amount of attention by the mining writers and pundits given over
to Papua New Guinea and new discoveries made, along with some
older known deposits being re-evaluated.
Unlike the past where mining
companies came into countries like PNG and explored, exploited
and operated mines irrespective of the rights and wishes of local
indigenous peoples, today these rights and wishes are being acknowledged
and the landowners must be paid royalties by companies operating
in areas affected by mining.
After many years of little
or no exploration, Papua New Guinea is again coming to life.
Not to take a back seat to the extensive Oil and Gas exploration
now evolving and growing in PNG, the mining sector having been
revitalized with new and recent regulatory mining law changes
as well as tax reforms is about to return to it's task of drilling
mother earth in search of her treasures. In the words of a former
exploration manager of Placer Pacific's Greg Hall "Papua
New Guinea is one of the most enriched Copper & Gold sections
of the earth's crust"... and in my words ... "I think
he's right" now let's go find an elephant on the island.
Thanks for reading.
Ken J. Reser
Investor Relations Consultant
Adanac Moly Corp. website (AUA:TSX-V)
(PinkSheets:ANCGF) (Frankfurter:A9N)
Goldrea Resources Corp. website (GOR:TSX-V)
South Pacific Minerals website (SPZ:TSX-V)
email: ykgold@telus.net
tel: 403-844-2914
Previous articles
by Ken Reser on China's Shandong Kingdom of Gold & Molybdenum
21st Century & Beyond, can be found at 321gold here.
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