Site of huge PNG mine development shut down by protest

2:36 pm on 14 January 2019

A huge copper and gold mining project being developed in Morobe Province in Papua New Guinea has been shut down.

Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea.

Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. Photo: Supplied

The management of the Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture suspended exploration activity after a group, claiming to be landowners, had threatened on Friday to enter the site.

According to the Post Courier newspaper the group is opposed to a memorandum of understanding signed by the PNG government and the developer last month.

Activities at the exploration site are currently suspended pending assurances that law and order has been re-established.

The Mining Minister Johnson Tuke said the shutdown was uncalled for and the behaviour of the group protesting was a criminal act.