Transcript
At the heart of the local protests against Pacific Bauxite is the fact that the area it's hoping to mine is among the most fertile farming land on the island of Nende.
A member of the Temotu Provincial Assembly, Nelson Omar, said he told the miners as much in 2016 when he was the premier and his administration rejected their application for a provincial business license.
"You came without gun. Better you go back and you bring a gun, you shoot every people on the island and then you do your mining. Because it is in no way different from what will happen thereafter after you mine this place."
After a change of provincial government, Pacific Bauxite was swiftly granted a provincial business license.
That license expires on the first of April.
Just last week the latest protest by those opposing the miners took place at the office of the current provincial premier, David Maina, urging him not to renew the license.
Mr Maina says he listened to the protestors views but condemned their actions as illegal.
"They didn't follow the protocol they gave their letter less than 24 hours but by the law of this country any protest [notice] should be [given] 14 days through the police."
Nelson Omar says Mr Maina would do well to heed the groundswell of opposition to mining and reject any application to renew Pacific Bauxite's license.
"Once the premier doesn't listen to them. And he will grant a, renew the license again then there will be bigger protests for him to resign his seat as a sitting premier of the province."
One of the leaders of the main group of landowners opposing Pacific Bauxite, Ruddy Oti, says having the provincial business licence declined would be a small victory.
Mr Oti says the real battle is trying to raise enough funds to challenge the legality of the miner's prospecting license in court.
He says his group have found a lawyer willing to take up their cause and raised $15000 of the $50,000 Solomon dollars needed to open a case.
"We are looking at filing two cases. First one is injunction case. While we stop any prospecting activities we ask court to review the process in which the license was obtained and that will be the second case."
Pacific Bauxite's prospecting licence expires in December.
But Mr Oti says company officials are meeting with pro-mining landowners in the capital Honiara this week to discuss applying for an actual mining license.
For the Temotu premier David Maina this would be a positive step.
He says as one of the most remote provinces in Solomon Islands, Temotu cannot afford to be picky with economic opportunity.
Mr Maina says he wants to mediate between those for and against mining Nende.
"It will be fair if both parties come together and find a neutral zone that will take you together to discuss their issues. Because the government only caught in between the system."
But Ruddy Oti says consultation should have been done before the company was granted a prospecting license.
"So that you have all these things in place before you have prospecting licence. As it is now the prospecting licence is now granted and so the whole process was flawed there is too much corruption in it. So what we want to do is just to stuff up the whole thing."
Ruddy Oti says his group has appealed to the wider international community for assistance to help them meet their legal costs.
He says time is of the essence because Pacific Bauxite could submit an application for a mining licence before September.
If one is granted, tensions could boil over in Temotu.
