Citizens of Bougainville, involved in the horrendous military conflict waged on the island for a decade, have been expressing views about the prospective re-opening of the Panguna mine. In early February 2013, Rio Tinto – the company operating the mine until its forced closurein 1989 – once again indicated it might be favourable to reviving the project. Chris Uma, former leader of one militant group, has declared that “re-opening Panguna is non-negotiable until…[Bougainville] independence is gained”.
But another landowner, Martin Miriori, believes the majority of Bougainvilleans would “support it opening earlier”, so long as the government “allocate[s] resources to ensure they are well informed”.
Meanwhile, researcher Dr Kristian Laslett has re-iterated claims, based on evidence from former senior managers of the mine, that Rio Tinto provided material assistance to Papua New Guinean forces in order to put down the “revolution”.
See http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=12207.