Online videos show fires and displaced families due to the presence of “illegal miners” – as the authorities call them – who have migrated to the area to search for gold. Profits from the Porgera mine, one of the richest in the world, are also distributed to local landowners as compensation for environmental damage, leading to clashes between different groups. Pope Francis denounced this scourge during his visit a few days ago.
Port Moresby () – At least 20 people have died in violent clashes that broke out five days ago near the Porgera gold mine in the Enga province of Papua New Guinea. The local police commissioner, David Manning, has issued an emergency order to protect infrastructure and residents from so-called “illegal miners” who “resort to violence to victimize and terrorize local owners.”
The exploitation of this mine, the second largest in Papua New Guinea, active since the 1990s, has reignited conflicts between tribal populations over ownership of land. Pope Francis himself has referred to this issue several times during his recent trip to Asia and Oceania. Just a week ago, the pontiff called for an end to tribal violence and a fair distribution of wealth derived from natural resources.
It is not clear how many illegal miners are operating in the region, but according to local authorities, since the mine reopened in late 2023, there has been an increase in the number of migrants removing gold from the excavations and surrounding areas and clashing with local landowners, who receive income as compensation for the environmental damage caused by mining activity and allow foreign companies to exploit the deposit and subsoil resources.
In April, Commissioner Manning said that people arriving from other territories in Papua New Guinea after the mine reopened were “squatters”. “These outlaws are illegally occupying private land for illicit gain and they don’t care who or what harm they do. This greed is damaging to businesses and communities in the Porgera Valley,” Manning said.
To deal with the situation (and despite today being Papua New Guinea’s Independence Day), security personnel have been authorised to use force to quell the violence. Videos and photographs circulating online in recent days show heavily armed men roaming the streets of the city, buildings burning and families driven from their homes. Commissioner Manning ordered the agents to treat anyone with a weapon as a threat to life: “That means anyone who raises a weapon in a public space or threatens another person, they will be shot down,” the police chief said on Saturday. A further 122 officers and some soldiers were deployed to restore order. “We also call on landowners to support security force operations to protect their own people and the infrastructure on their land,” Commissioner Manning continued.
According to Benar NewsNew Porgera – the company operating the mine – has suspended operations because it cannot guarantee the safety of its staff. “Over the past 24 hours the escalation of tribal clashes has affected many of our employees,” said James McTiernan, the company’s chief executive. Local employees have been allowed to take unpaid leave to relocate and provide for their families.
The Porgera gold mine is located about 600 kilometres northwest of the capital Port Moresby at an altitude of over 2,000 metres. It is one of the 10 largest gold mines in the world and contributes about 10% of the country’s exports. In May, a landslide disrupted road links to the deposit and killed more than 100 people, so the excavation site can currently only be reached on foot or by plane. The region is home to around 50,000 people in a country of 12 million.
New Porgera Limited is currently 51% owned by Papuan shareholders (split between Kumul Minerals, a state holding company, local landowners and the Enga Provincial Administration) and 49% by Barrick Niugini, which in turn is a joint venture between Canada’s Barrick Gold and China’s Zijin Mining. In 2019, the Papua New Guinea government refused to renew the foreign companies’ licence, leading to the mine’s closure in April 2020. The resumption of operations on 22 December 2023 was the result of lengthy negotiations. Local residents have repeatedly denounced violence by security personnel and sought to draw attention to the problem of disposal of mining waste, which has for years polluted local rivers and rendered agricultural land unproductive.
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