3 Dec 2014

PNG mining conference hailed a success

7:35 am on 3 December 2014

Papua New Guinea's Chamber of Mines and Petroleum says this week's annual investment conference in Sydney has been a success, despite a downturn in the market.

About 1,400 delegates including investors, analysts and government leaders have met to discuss prospects, exploration and future mining projects in PNG.

The Chamber's executive director, Greg Anderson, says after a decade of strong growth, the industry is facing pressure because of a fall in commodity prices.

He says despite this, there's been a strong interest in future projects, including that of Candian company Nautilus, which plans to extract minerals from the seabed off New Ireland.

"We have some wonderful new projects that have been advanced considerably, and the prospects that have been advanced in recent years, we will see those go forward. At a slower rate perhaps in the coming years, but they will definitely be moving forward. Two of our best mining prospects are going forward and we hope that they will catch the next cycle in the turnup of copper gold price."

Greg Anderson says its likely new mining projects will come out of the conference.