. Our EIN or tax ID is 45-3714703. stories compiled by the Catholic Diocese of Bougainville, decided to divest from its local subsidiary in control of the Panguna mine, United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, Bolivian national park hit hard by forest fires in 2022, satellite data show, Deforestation out of control in reserve in Brazils cattle capital, In Brazils Amazon, land grabbers scramble to claim disputed Indigenous reserve, Gold mining invades remote protected area in Ecuador, Machine learning makes long-term, expansive reef monitoring possible, Experts pushing for high-seas fishing ban win Nobel Prize for environment, Theyre everywhere out there: Three new nautilus species described, End of the tuna FAD? Clouds in the mountains 6:45. Engitech is a values-driven technology agency dedicated. The political structure of Bougainville as an autonomous region within Papua New Guinea reflects the important need, following the civil war, for parliamentary representation of different interest groups. Discontent was brought to a head in 1988 by a long-running dispute over the uneven economic returns and environmental impacts from Panguna copper mine. Engitech is a values-driven technology agency dedicated. Bougainville Copper trained some 12,000 employees, including approximately 1,000 completing full trade apprenticeships and some 400 completing graduate and post-graduate studies that resulted in considerable progress in the localisation of the companys employees and significantly added to the number of skilled workers elsewhere in the countrys workforce. Sale ends. In 1643, the inhabitants of Takuu and Nissan atolls had the first recorded contact with Europeans from an expedition led by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. 3,000 inhabitants of Panguna will work at the mine 18:40. A 16th century map 5:41. Bougainville Island, easternmost island of Papua New Guinea, in the Solomon Sea, southwestern Pacific. Professor of Development Studies, The University of the South Pacific. That's how they worked. The mine was operated by Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), an Australian subsidiary of Rio Tinto, and sought to tap large deposits of copper, gold and silver in the Emperor mountain range. This letter included comments that bordered on the slanderous. Bougainvilles president John Momis has copped much criticism for entertaining the Caballus deal, and the Autonomous Bougainville Government has given mixed signals on its position on mining. 4. In addition, payments to the then North Solomons Provincial Government and Panguna landowners, together with provisions made since 1990, amounted to K114 million. U.S. Court is prepared to hear Bougainville genocide case against Rio Tinto. Caballus Mining was set up only in August 2018. RTG chairman Michael Carrick was also loath to talk about the issue. Louis-Antoine de Bougainville was a French admiral and explorer. Rivers and streams became filled with silt and significantly widened. BCL did not alert the domestic or international community of the impeding humanitarian crisis. In his latest broadside, Sturm accuses Ulster University criminologist, Kristian Lasslett, of using his "academic position as a platform for indoctrination and agitation.". For example, BCL was informed by the Minister of State that the security forces were planning to use "brutal firepower" to resolve the situation on Bougainville. 1989: World's Largest Gold/Copper Mine Bougainville was home to the largest copper/gold mine in the world, the Panguna Mine which operated until 1989. The Conversation contacted Rio Tinto for comment. I think communities would welcome them doing that, if they were there for that reason.. "It is possible that some further remediation work will be carried out on site with the co-operation of landowners, to make areas safe whether mining proceeds or not," he said. [9], In January 2018, the Bougainville government enacted an indefinite moratorium on renewing the licence of BCL over fears it could reignite violent civil conflict. More recently a new player, Caballus Mining, has arrived in Bougainville. Bougainville Copper says its main objective is to work cooperatively towards realising the vision of resuming active exploration and sustainable copper, gold and silver mining at Panguna, in central Bougainville, after mining ceased in 1989. It is one of the largest known copper reserves in PNG and in the world having estimated reserves of 1,000 Mt of ore grading 0.34% Cu and containing perhaps as much as 12 Moz of gold. The ore processing consists of four stages as the rocks are crushed into less than half inch units 3:40. With Buka Island and several island groups, it forms the autonomous region of Bougainville. And in an unsuccessful class action, launched by Bougainvilleans in the United States in 2000, Rio was accused of collaborating with the PNG state to commit human rights abuses during the conflict and was also sued for environmental damages. Mining giant Rio Tinto Group, which was historically Bougainville Copper Limited's major shareholder, exited on 30 June 2016 when it transferred its 53.8 per cent shareholding for distribution to the Autonomous Bougainville Government and the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. I consider that issue now resolved.-- * Kristian Lasslett is a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Ulster and he sits on the Executive Board of the International State Crime Initiative. Further, Bougainville Coppers presence in the North Solomons Province had promoted the development of significant local business enterprises to provide goods and services required for the mining operation and for the residents of the province. BCL should demand that Rio Tinto - its parent company - cease contesting litigation taken by Bougainvillean landowners in the US, and fully compensate those victimised by the security forces using BCL property/facilities. Be worried when fossil fuel lobbyists support current environmental laws. Rio handed its shares in Bougainville Copper Ltd to the Autonomous Bougainville Government and Papua New Guinea in 2016, judging that the Panguna mine was too risky to develop. They spoke with parents whose children have sores that wont heal and persistent coughs, in part because the tainted river waters are the only place where they can bathe. That may have been true for the duration of the conflict, Adams said. 2 May 2012. In a paper out on Wednesday The Scramble for Resources - The International Race for Bougainville's Mineral Wealth, Jubilee Australia has laid out the steps . Moreover, in a blog post, it is clearly impossible to add more context, which would help readers understand some of the complex factors influencing BCL's decisions. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Bougainville Copper, which is no longer associated with Rio, has estimated it would take seven to eight years and $5 billion to $6 billion to rebuild the mine and resume full operations. Johnstons biggest claims to fame at home are a controversy over his lavish spending on entertainment as minister and comments that South Australians couldnt build a canoe, much less a submarine. web pages International Organization Foundation How Do Natural Resources Influence Civil War? These communities used the rivers for drinking water and the adjacent lands for subsistence food gardening. 2. The Panguna mine is a large copper mine located in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, in the east of Papua New Guinea.Panguna represents one of the largest copper reserves in Papua New Guinea and in the world, having an estimated reserve of one billion tonnes of ore copper and twelve million ounces of gold. Bougainville Copper (ISIN PG0008526520) is an Australian-listed copper company which lost its main asset due to a civil war on the island of Bougainville during the 1990s. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. A no-go zone around the Panguna mine, set up by the Meekamui Defence Force, is signposted in Bougainville, 2008. BCL meeting minutes evidence the fact that during 1989 the company's Managing Director provided strategic input to PNGDF commanders and government officials on security force offensive operations. Previously run by Rio Tinto, the mine was at the centre of a decade-long conflict over allegations that locals were being ripped off and the environment damaged by foreign mining companies. BCL operated the copper, gold and silver mine at the Panguna mine on Bougainville Island in PNG from 1971 to 1989. Be the first one to, THE BOUGAINVILLE COPPER PROJECT 1970s PANGUNA NEW GUINEA COPPER MINE PROMO FILM 69684, 69684-the-bougainville-copper-project-vwr, Advanced embedding details, examples, and help, Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). Women in a market at Bougainville earlier this year.Credit:Ben Bohane. The natives of Papua New Guinea are to be trained to work in the copper mines 14:03. Dec. 5, 2022. BCL company secretary Mark Hitchcock said from his office in Port Moresby that the company retained strong support among landowners and rejected suggestions the company had lost its social licence to operate. Photo: The Panguna mine was abandoned in 1989 after an armed uprising known as the Bougainville Crisis. They, and others, sent the complaint to the Australian OECD National Contact Point after lodging it with Melbournes Human Rights Law Centre. In recent months, the mudslinging by supporters of both groups has died down. But what lies ahead remains deeply concerning for the people of Bougainville, according to the people that Adams and her colleagues spoke with, who said they have been left with few options. In response to my article the President of the European Shareholders of Bougainville Copper composed an open letter addressed to me. Locals amid the ruined mine buildings at Panguna (Photo: Catherine Wilson) In 1989, the Nasioi on Bougainville were the world's first indigenous people, angered by inequity and environmental damage, to shut down a multinational mining venture. Mongabay is a U.S.-based non-profit conservation and environmental science news platform. This highlights the enormous challenges in seeking redress from mining companies for their operations in foreign jurisdictions, and, in this case, for historical impacts. ", Investment strategy; Ongoing tax dispute with the Internal Revenue Commission of PNG; Litigation in the United States; Corporate governance; Safety; Risk management; Bougainville Copper Foundation; Significant events, beginning on Bougainville; and Bougainville Copper Agreement. Construction continues at a rapid pace 25:27. In turn, the landowner groups supporting BCLs plans to reopen Panguna have also come under fire. They were very heavy handed in the way they handled disputes in the HighlandsIt was a case, somebody has to come. For an all-round overview of the Bougainville Copper story - a constant plaything of speculators - please refer back to my Weekly Dispatch of 13 March 2020. 1. "Again, the landowners will be informed and involved as appropriate. SYDNEY, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Communities around Rio Tinto's (RIO.AX), (RIO.L) shuttered copper mine in Bougainville face a serious threat of flooding due to unstable mine instrastructure, an. So we supported them every way we could" (Personal Communication, 2006). Banner image of the Panguna mine tailings wasteland courtesy of the Human Rights Law Centre. It was not a new argument, indeed the distinguished ANU scholar John Braithwaite wrote in 2011: "Reconciliation between the mining company, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, and Bougainvilleans is yet to be achieved. Indeed, Panguna along with the socially and environmentally disastrous Ok Tedi mine in the western highlands of PNG are widely credited with forcing the industry to reassess its social license to operate. Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a dual economy: a formal economy built around extractive industries (mining, petroleum, logging, commercial fishing) and cash crop production (palm oil, coffee . Geographically, Bougainville is the largest of the Solomon Islands, located near the northern end of that chain. "The most-beneficial change has been the focus of Panguna landowners and other Bougainvilleans on the re-development agenda, and the initiatives they have taken to contribute to momentum. Picture taken March 29, 2017. During its operation from 1972-1989, the mine operator, then a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, dumped one billion tonnes of mining waste into Bougainville's rivers with devastating environmental consequences. As one General Manager informed me: "We knew the riot squads were heavy handed, that was well known in PNG. The company is blamed by many locals for contamination attributed to the mine. "Bougainville Copper Limited shareholding", "Bougainville imposes moratorium on Panguna mine over fears of civil unrest", "BCL takes Bougainville Govt to court over licence non-renewal", European Shareholders of Bougainville Copper (ESBC), Bougainville Copper Limited - All Annual Reports since 1967, Blood and Treasure - SBS documentary 2011, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bougainville_Copper&oldid=1142268123, Copper mining companies of Papua New Guinea, Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 13:11. Country Partnership Strategy: Papua New Guinea, 2021-2025 INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH ASSESSMENT A. The mine itself and specifically what some saw as the inequitable sharing of the profits played a part in precipitating almost a decade of civil war between Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Bougainville beginning in 1989 and led Rio Tinto to abandon completely the mine by 1990. Environment Minister Sussan Ley faces a critical test: will she let a mine destroy koala breeding grounds? Lets examine what led to the ongoing crisis. on the Internet. on June 23, 2020, This is a 1960s era, color movie about the Bougainville Copper Project in Papua, New Guinea. For 17 years in the 1970s and 1980s, the mine was one of the worlds largest for copper and gold. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com, There are no reviews yet. The power plant will supply the towns of Arawa and Panguna with electricity as well as to the mining facility 18:05. Regardless, all views are to be respected." This public disclosure should document the logistical support BCL supplied to the government's security forces between December 1988 and March 1990. I expressed the view that CRA would want to review its assessment of PNG as a place to invest. In all, it was an unsatisfactory meeting". The Panguna mines footprint was gigantic, stretching across the full breadth of the central part of the island. For example, the company's charitable arm - the Bougainville Copper Foundation (BCF) - had surveyed homes lost to village burnings, which were conducted en masse by the Mobile Squads and the PNGDF during 1989. Bougainville has voted to become a new country, but the journey to independence is not yet over. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have confirmed that representatives of Mr Forrest's mining company, Fortescue, travelled in recent months to the island and were exploring growth opportunities there. Search the history of over 797 billion By the time the hostilities ended in 1997, thousands of Bougainvilleans had lost their lives, including from an air and sea blockade the PNG military had imposed, which prevented essential medical supplies reaching the island. In 1968 elections were held throughout Papua New Guinea. Construction required filling the swamp 14:40. That legislation was later rejected by the government's legislative committee, illustrating how politically contentious this issue will be in an independent Bougainville. John Cannon is a staff features writer with Mongabay. Taylor said he was more optimistic about the future of this company than any year out of the previous 20 years. Land clearing begins 15:40. Adams said she doesnt agree with that reasoning, which she said has become something of a mantra for the company since its divestment in 2016. I am more than happy to engage in further probing dialogue with anyone who cares to comment; but I will not react to any further personal attacks, or ill informed judgements on the rigour of my research. (AAP Image: Ilya Gridneff) The Bougainville Government has also criticised the consortium for paying landowners who support them and implied it is not respecting the approval process. Its sole director is Arabian horse breeder and luxury goods dealer Jeff McGlinn a man who posted a flashy social media video of Saudi royalty at a luxury event, and another of him giving one of his fine equines to classical crossover singer Andrea Bocelli. Momis initially supported a moratorium on mining at Panguna to avoid reigniting old conflicts between landowner groups. But in the wake of that expected vote, there is a real risk of new disputes between landowner groups as miners, many with links to Australia, could reignite the crisis that engulfed the island 30 years ago. Adams team cataloged the fouled water supplies that force communities to depend on drinking water piped from long distances upslope. Allegations have been made that BCL's Chairman supported the military blockade which was placed around Bougainville during 1990 - this blockade included the denial of humanitarian aid. The movie opens on a beach with palm trees. Rock crushers weighing 24 tons 24:20. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. You shall not use your academic position as a platform for indoctrination and agitation.". 7. We urgently need Rio Tinto to come back and deal with these problems so our communities can find healing.. 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