Newcrest, Harmony Gold agree terms with Papua New Guinea for JV project

Updates with detail on agreement

April 6 (Reuters) – Newcrest Mining Ltd NCM.AX and South Africa’s Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd HARJ.J have agreed with Papua New Guinea on the terms of a contract to start developing their joint project in the Pacific island nation, the Australian miner said Thursday.

The framework agreement sets out the key terms to be included in the mining development contract, a prerequisite for a special mining lease for the Wafi-Golpu copper-gold project, which is equally owned by Newcrest and Harmony.

The terms include the Papua New Guinea government’s stake in the project, conditions for investments, commitments for the JV to invest in local infrastructure and social development projects and ensuring speedy progress towards approval.

“This MOU is a pivotal milestone towards the development of one of the world’s premier undeveloped copper-gold deposits,” Newcrest interim Chief Executive Officer Sherry Duhe said in a statement.

Late last month, Canada’s Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TOsigned an agreement with the Papua New Guinea government to progress with the resumption of operations at the Porgera gold mine, suspended since April 2020.

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)

((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))

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