A Land Access and Compensation agreement (LACA) was signed this month between the Taonita-Teop landowners and Bougainville Minerals Investment (BMI) in the next step toward full-scale mining.
Required under the Bougainville Mining Act 2015, the LACA allows BMI to use the land for exploration and is part of the requirement to receive a mining licence.
The LACA follows the exploration approval given to BMI by the Bougainville Executive Council (BEC) in November 2024.
During the LACA signing event, Taonita Teop Community Government chairwoman Anna Satoriri spoke to the long process of getting to this point.
“[I urge] the local landowners and the resource owners to take responsibility of their decisions in committing to sign and give consent for BMI to access their land and carry out its work program in their areas,” Satoriri said.
BMI owner and managing director Paul Ryan congratulated the landowners on their decision to partner with the company.
“Ground works [are] now underway for construction of office and accommodation for employees who will be based at the Yokomori camp site,” Ryan said. “BMI Limited is committed to provid[ing] as much spin off benefit as possible during tenure by localising all activities in Taonita-Teop.”
The next step in the process will see BMI start the exploration work, with hopes this will help Bougainville develop economically.
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