Porgera Joint Venture (PJV)

About us

The Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) owns the Porgera Mine which is operated by Barrick (Niugini) Limited ("BNL") on behalf of the JV partners.
 
The Porgera Gold Mine employs over 3,300 Papua New Guineans and over the life of mine it has produced more than 20 million ounces of gold and contributed approximately 10% of Papua New Guinea’s total annual exports.

Responsible environmental management is central to the Porgera operation. The Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) is committed to good environment stewardship and achieves this through implementation of an Environmental Management System (EMS) that was certified to the ISO 14001 standard in December 2012 and recertified in 2015, 2018 and 2021. A team of environmental professionals takes responsibility for monitoring compliance with permit conditions and PJV standards for water conservation, climate change, biodiversity, mine closure and incident reporting.
 
The EMS helps to drive environmental performance by ensuring a systematic approach to environmental management and continual improvement in areas such as water, energy and waste disposal. Certification to ISO 14001 provides assurance the right environmental programs and controls are in place and they are being applied consistently and effectively in reducing environmental impacts.

Compliance, Risk and Impact Assessment
PNG Government approval for riverine  disposal was granted only after careful review of Porgera's Environmental Plan and was contingent upon the mine demonstrating, through ongoing monitoring, that river water quality further downstream meets ambient quality  standards set to protect public health (including drinking water guidelines) and aquatic ecosystems. The PJV environmental permit requires extensive river monitoring and strict compliance with discharge and monitoring requirements.

The verdict to date is the impacts of the waste disposal scheme are within the predictions made in the environmental plan prior to development of the mine in 1990 – a state of affairs which certification to ISO 14001 is helping to confirm.

Land Reclamation
Progressive reclamation of disturbed  land is carried out as soon as its use for mining purposes has been completed. Reclamation is carried out in two stages, the first involves applying fertilizer and planting a range of grass and legume species in order to stabilize the soil and  establish a protective plant litter layer which will recycle nutrients. PJV uses a hyrdroseeder for applying seed and fertilizer to graded slopes while a helicopter seeding-bucket is used for steep, inaccessible areas, such as the open pit.

The second stage of reclamation involves shrub and tree planting, with the aim of establishing a self-sustaining vegetation community. Local village groups are contracted to grow tree seedlings which are then transplanted at the mine site. Trees planted in 2004 are well established and provide habitat for insects, birds and lizards.

Bio-cultural Conservation
PJV has partnered with Conservation International (CI) and provided funding and logistical support for biodiversity surveys at the Kaijende Highlands near the mine and the Strickland Headwaters. New species of frogs, reptiles, plants and insects were discovered from these surveys extending the known range of mammals and birds.