THE K92 Mining Ltd in Papua new Guinea will be investing about K1 billion in capital to expand the mine and increase production this year, chief executive officer and director John Lewins says.
He said with the current 1,650 employees (1,250 direct and 400 contractors) employment is expected to increase to 2,500 over the next two years.
“We are busy with the expansion,” he said.
“By the end of the following year, when we get into the next phase of expansion, we expect to be around 2,500 people.
“We are looking at double the number of people we employ over the next two years, and to actually triple the amount of production that we do.
“We will be investing over a billion kina in capital this year alone, we are doing about K300 million in capital projects, all is part of that expansion to triple our production so that by 2025, we will be producing about 350,000 ounces of gold a year, which will make K92 one of the largest gold mines in PNG and the world and a very profitable one.
“We will be paying a lot of the tax,” he added.
“In terms of production, last year, we did around 104,000 ounces and we expect to do between 140,000 ounces and 150,000 this year and by 2025, that will be up to about 350,000 ounces.”
The National / Pacific Mining Watch
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