THE Ok Tedi mine in Western, Papua New Guinea has about 200 million tonnes of resources still in the ground, with the company looking to extend mine life beyond 2032, says an official.
Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML) chief executive and managing director Musje Werror said the amount of resource still in the ground could last beyond the 2040s.
“Ok Tedi is going through a process of transition,” Werror told guests at the welcome ceremony of new vessel MV Fly Valiant in Port Moresby last Friday.
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| PNG's OK Tedi Mine Life to extend beyond 2032 [Photo by OK Tedi Mine] |
“We’ve been in operation for 38 years and our facilities are aging.
“We are now reinvesting into the business in terms of putting money into our processing facilities, re-fleeting our mine haul equipment.
“That is in order to take us into the next 10-plus years.
He said the life of the mine was estimated to end in 2032, but the management was hoping to extend it beyond that date.
“We still have resources, about 200 million tonnes of it, and that will still be in the ground post 2032.
“That can take us well into 2040s or even 2050s.
“So Ok Tedi is not going to close in the near term.
“There is still life for the project well into the future.
“The challenge is managing our environmental impacts and what we do with the waste rock and the tailing.
“The next 10 years we have in the current life of mine, we are going to be looking at the current solutions that can further extend the mine life well beyond 2032.”
Meanwhile, Werror said there was concern as to what would happen to services that the company currently provided to impact communities post mine closure.
“The services that we provide, with health, education, logistical services and others with the support of our business partners, at a certain point in time, we should be able to hand over these responsibilities to third parties,” he said.
“What can we leave behind for Western?
“These are part of the discussions that we will have with (our partner) P&O.
“Obviously, we do not want to leave behind services that will deteriorate and services that will stop.”
The National / Pacific Mining Watch
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