01 Dec 2021
St. Barbara, the operators of the Simberi Gold Mine in New Ireland province, say their operation in Papua New Guinea, is just one of three they are using as pathways to more than 10 years of operating life.
Chief Operating Officer, Peter Cowley, said all three of their operations have a strong focus on safety.
Safety Always
· A new standard of dealing with infectious diseases has been added to St Barbara’s Critical Control Risk Standards to manage COVID-19 at Simberi and the local community
· Installation of In-Vehicle Management System (IVMS) helping to manage ‘long COVID’ fatigue associated with long rosters
Three foundation projects
· Atlantic Operations – Touquay Mine, Canada
· Leonora Operations – Gwalla Mine, Australia
· Simberi Operations – Simberi Mine, Papua New Guinea
Partner in Development
· St Barbara continues to operate as a development partner in PNG
· Working with New Ireland Provincial Health Authority in managing COVID
· There is regular engagement with the New Ireland Provincial and Central New Ireland Governments
COVID-19 Management
On-site control measures include:
· Pre-Travel testing
· Daily testing for non-camp residents
· Work bubbles
· Niupela Pasin and St Barbara COVID Measures enforcement
Community Contributions
· Total community benefits value between 2008 and 2020 – K314m
· Local companies – K108m
· Royalties paid – K87m
· Wages – K100m
· Compensation – K10m
Biodiversity Program
· Caring for the environment
· Providing food security
Sulphide Project Processing
· CEPA concluding review of Environmental Impact Statement
· Sulphide Environmental Permit expected December 2021
· Community is supportive of the project
· Approx. $15M of project CAPEX already spent on DSTP replacement