According to the CEO of Bougainville Copper, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, the Panguna mine is to re-open within the next five years. His words were a direct contradiction of the words spoken by Rio Tinto Chairman Jan du Plessis at the company’s London AGM on 15 April.
The Bougainville Indigenous Women Landowner Association (BIWLA) has demanded, at the very least, to participate in decision-making regarding the re-opening of the mine. Respect for the matrilineal nature of Bougainville society has been one of the problems previously encountered.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=10086.