Papua New Guinea warns of Barrick mine takeover

The prime minister of Papua New Guinea is threatening to take over a gold mine operated by Barrick Gold Corp. after operations were suspended there last weekend in the midst of a dispute over renewal of its mining lease.

In a social media post, Prime Minister James Marape warns Barrick “don’t fight me” as he urges the company to maintain the Pogera mining operation until negotiations result in an “agreed exit time.”

He adds in a side message to “PNGeans” that the world won’t end if Pogera closes.

On Friday, Toronto-based Barrick announced that it will pursue all legal avenues to prevent what it’s calling the “nationalization without due process’’ of the mine in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Barrick, which is the operator, and Zijin Mining Group of China each own 47.5 per cent of the mine. Barrick says it applied for an extension of its mining lease in June 2017 but the government refused to comply and it expired last August.

In an announcement posted on its website Tuesday, Zijin warns that if a new agreement isn’t reached, prolonged production suspension of the mine will cause losses for all stakeholders.

“My letter will ask Barrick to continue operating the mine when we go through this phase, but if you sabotage or close the mine, you leave me no choice but to invoke orders to take over the mine,” said Marape in his Facebook post.

“Don’t fight me (I am in my country and I lose nothing), work with me for your ease of business during this transition and exit phase (you never know, negotiations may buy you extra mine operation time).”

Barrick did not immediately respond to a request for comment.