16 Nov 2012

PNG insists on details to approve Nautilus seabed mining

2:35 pm on 16 November 2012

The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea says his government wants to be fully satisfied on core issues such as environmental impact before it participates in the Solwara 1 deep sea mining project.

The developer of the project planned for PNG's Bismarck Sea has decided to terminate construction amid a dispute with the government over costs of up to 80 million US dollars.

The Canadian company Nautilus Minerals planned to mine gold and copper in the seabed, the first such deep sea mining operation in the world.

Peter O'Neill says he regrets that Nautilus has had to freeze its plans.

But he says data that PNG has sought about the project has not been forthcoming.

"We are trying to expend public funds so we need to be comforted. We've indicated that we want to participate in this project, including issues like intellectual property rights and issues of that nature need to be resolved properly before we make the final investments."

The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter O'Neill