Juffa highlights expatriates’ involvement in the alluvial mining space, urging the government to localize

The Provincial Member for Northern, Gary Juffa, raised several concerns in parliament yesterday on alluvial mining activities happening up in the Wau-Bulolo area in Morobe Province.

Governor Juffa pointed out that he recently made a visit to the site and was surprised to see most alluvial mining activities are done by foreigners.

He said these small scale mining activities are supposed to be localized.

He questioned what the relevant agencies, including the Police, Labour, Immigration, Mining, and Commerce, are doing to address this issue.

"The once restricted activities for nationals have been taken over by some expatriates. What is happening in this regard with this particular business?

"Statistics indicate that alluvial gold production, indicate that there's been a drop in exports. The only conclusion is that there's significant gold being smuggled out of the country.

"There's a rise in Chinese nationals, including other expatriates involved in this business, setting up mini alluvial mines with heavy machinery that they are operating and pushing PNG Alluvial miners out of this business. What are the relevant organizations tasked to administer and enforce?" Governor Juffa said.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister responsible for Lands and Immigration, John Rosso also confirmed that there was a significant increase in alluvial mining activities.

Minister Rosso explained that most of these expatriates are brought in by locals, and they work as partners.

"Alluvial mining is a restricted area. But the answer is not that simple.

"The alluvial gold mining licenses that were issued to our local people and our people ventured into getting partners or going into business spinoff activities with foreigners and bringing them in," Rosso said.

Rosso said in the next few weeks he will coordinate with other agencies to discuss how they can address this issue.