The government of Guinea inked a memorandum of understanding with Jaxin Group to expedite the process of identifying the opportunities and move into making investment decision over the Papua New Guinea mining industry.
Mining Minister Johnson Tuke said the memorandum of understanding was witnessed by representatives of China Energy, in Port Moresby.
“We are creating an understanding so that we can invite this company to conduct business in the mining sector, so as in the oil and petroleum sector because they have a known history back in their country. We’ve got a process at the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA). This doesn’t mean we’ll give them first preference or priority. They have to fully comply with processes down at MRA, meaning they have to take part in the application processes,” Tuke said.
Financial capacity
Jaxin PNG chairman Kennedy Penial said the company had the financial capacity and human resources to invest in PNG. Simons Energy, an upstream oil and gas subsidiary of Jaxin, is 51% owned by China Offshore Point Corporation.
“Since Prime Minister (James Marape) opened up to bring in investors from China through the Embassy of China in PNG, they (Jaxin) are the first ones who have taken up the initiative. Our interest is more in the mining and petroleum sector,” Penial said.
Initial investment anticipated in this arrangement is about US$10 billion (K34 billion) in the first three years, and a further US$30 billion (K103 billion) thereafter.
