Source: Little Green Palai

In just a few days in a faraway land in Sydney, Australia, from December 1-3, Papua New Guinea’s mining department will be hosting its investment conference.

However, in two rural villages in Bogia and Karkar Island in Madang province they are not pleased that rural lands are being talked about without local people’s involvement.

Karkar Islanders are at the forefront of rejecting seabed mining in the Bismarck Sea and despite their numerous calls to the government to halt seabed mining, Nautilus Minerals has been able to twist the government of Papua New Guinea so that it can dig on the seafloor of New Ireland province.

Seabed mining is not just a Papua New Guinean concern but a regional issue. Nautilus Minerals has produced maps showing tenements across the Pacific and at what stages of development they are at. In the Bismarck Sea Solwara 1 has been given the green light to go ahead with this experiment.

Karkar villagers through their young people and the Lutheran church, which they are members of, are still saying the seafloor should not be touched at all for any reason.

On another front coal mining will be a new thing for Papua New Guinea.

In the villages along the Adelbert Range in Bogia, some rogue scientists have entered claiming they were investigating prospects for coal mining. This has stirred the villagers to start sending messages to their government saying, there will be no such activity on their land.

A placard they held up recently (photo above) said there will be no mining. The land is for food gardens.

Recently the Mineral Resource Authority made an announcement in Kokopo it will be developing a coal mining policy for Papua New Guinea.

Also around the same time an Australian firm Mayur Resources has announced it will do coal explorations in the Gulf Province for coal and iron-sands.