Autonomous Bougainville Government developed Mining Law to give complete ownership rights to landowners

The Bougainville Copper Mine held the title of the largest copper and gold mine in the world from 1972 to 1986.

The distribution of benefits among different stakeholders was determined by the Bougainville Copper Agreement, which was signed in mid-1967.

President of the Autonomous Bougainville Government [ABG], Ishmael Toroama, stated during PNG Resource Week that this agreement did not adequately address the benefits of the landowners, leading to civil unrest and the forced closure of the mine.

The repercussions of these events are still being felt by the people today. President Toroama not only highlighted the grievances of the landowners in the past, but also emphasized the steps taken by Bougainville to request the transfer of mining powers and functions from the PNG government, as outlined in the Bougainville Peace Agreement.

“It took time until 2008, for the national government to agree to the transfer arrangements and transfer process took place between 2008 until 2011 while at the same time ABG gradually established entirely mining department to administer the mining powers and functions to be transferred,” President Toroama said.

The mining department then facilitated the development of the Bougainville Mining Policy which is a very crucial part after consideration of the bad experiences in the past.

The consultation for developing the Bougainville mining policy was carried out from 2011-2013 and was finally approved in 2014 by theABG.

Mr. Toroama added that the policy created the basis for the development of the first Bougainville Mining Law.

“The draft of the Bougainville Mining Act was ready in 2014 and in 2015 the draft law was approved by the Bougainville Executive Council [BEC] and later Bougainville House of Representatives and effectively became the Bougainville Mining Act, 2015,” the president said.

Mr Toroama reiterated that the Bougainville Mining Act, 2015 ensures the long held grievances do not occur again and also informed developers attending PNG Resources Week at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) on certain provisions specified in the act [Bougainville Mining Act, 2015].

“First and foremost, the act provides that owners of the customary land and not the state owns any mineral in or under land meaning the ownership is vested entirely to landowners with mineral ownership rights and government as a regulator will have the exclusive rights to grant tenements.

“Small mining is only reserved for Bougainvillean's and for big scale mining, the ABG will decide whether a large mine exploration can be allowed to proceed and the conditions that will apply to that activity after considering the impact it will have on people, the environment and other related issues,” President Toroama added.

The ABG president has made known he is open to discussion with any developer who wants to work with them in reopening the mine in the near future.