Potential Chinese investors given insight

Potential Chinese investors and financiers were given an insight into mining investment opportunities available in Papua New Guinea especially PNG’s efforts to diversify the country’s mineral base.

Managing Director of the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) Philip Samar in his presentation at the7th China International Nickel Industry Summit in Fuzhou, Fujian province in China, told participants that PNG was intensifying efforts to diversifying its mineral base and that investment in other minerals other than gold, copper and silver was encouraged. He said diversification was critical for a mineral dependent country such as PNG given the volatile mineral price shifts witnessed recently and in the event of a down-turn in world commodity prices for copper and gold, you could still have other minerals to maintain the revenue flows into the country.

Mr Samar told participants that PNG had world class nickel/cobalt exploration projects some of which needed financing and capital investment in order for these projects to be advanced to the next stage of development.

Wowo Gap and Mambare nickel projects along the Owen Stanley Ranges are large projects that boast resources larger than Ramu. These two projects were highlights which captured the attention of participants at the conference. Other known nickel occurrences around the country were also highlighted.

Papua New Guinea was the spotlight of the conference given the fact that the 2 largest nickel exporters, Indonesia and the Philippines, were both passing legislation restricting the export of nickel ore to China and therefore PNG was being targeted as the next supplier of nickel ore to the region particularly China.

The conference acknowledged the significant developments to date in the maturity of both the industry and the overall government efforts in promoting the exploration and mining sector. These include the review of the Mining Act 1992, the creation of the new tenements management system and the provision of new geological datasets through the airborne geophysical surveys that has been done on highly prospective areas of PNG.

As a result of the conference, the Fuzhou Department of Commerce will be visiting the MRA next week Tuesday with a delegation of 5 business houses to further enquire on the prospects of taking up nickel prospects in the country.

The MRA delegation also held a number of meetings on the side lines of the conference with potential investors and financiers including a meeting organized by the China Development Bank (CDB) and the Fujian provincial government’s department of commerce. This meeting was attended by more than 12 Chinese companies interested in seeking out further exploration and mining opportunities in the country.