Traditional landowners are fighting back against plans to reopen an existing Bougainville copper mine which has remained dormant for nearly four decades.

During a public event on Bougainville Island last week a warning was declared against the companies who landowners say are illegally redeveloping the Panguna mine.

A public notice told Bougainville Copper Ltd in partnership with Lloyds Metals and Energy Ltd to cease their “unauthorised entry and activities” and leave the site. The Autonomous Bougainville Government has been encouraging complicit investors in the island’s economy to accelerate its mining growth as the autonomous region of Papua New Guinea seeks independence prior to the end of the decade. Bougainville Copper, an Australian Securities Exchange-listed company, has always been a long-time Panguna exploration licence-holder, while Lloyds was appointed by the Autonomous Region of Bougainville government last year as its preferred partner to redevelop one of the world’s largest copper reserves.

The Panguna mine has not been operational since tensions from the Bougainville civil war escalated in 1989, forcing its closure. The government believes the mine is the most productive way for Bougainville to become economically self-sufficient when goodwill from the PNG national parliament grants the autonomous region its independence.

While returning the mine to production is expected to take several years, efforts, by all accounts, are notably gaining pace.

Read full article https://nit.com.au/05-05-2026/24078/bougainville-landowners-demand-mining-companies-halt-reopening-of-copper-pit