Panguna mine

Panguna mine

Shovel at Panguna mine undergoing maintenance. At this time, the shovel was engaged in overburden removal. c. 1971
Location
Panguna mine
Autonomous Region of Bougainville
Country	Papua New Guinea
Coordinates	6°18′54″S 155°29′42″E / 6.315°S 155.495°E / -6.315; 155.495
Production
Products	Copper Gold Silver Uranium
Type	Open pit
History
Opened	1972
Closed	1989

The Panguna mine is a large copper mine located in the east of Papua New Guinea in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. Panguna represents one of the largest copper reserves in Papua New Guinea and in the world having estimated reserves of 1 billion tonnes of ore grading 0.34% copper and 12 million oz of gold.

The discovery of vast copper ore deposits in Bougainville's Crown Prince Range in 1969 led to the establishment of a huge copper mine by Bougainville Copper Limited, a subsidiary of the Australian company Conzinc Rio Tinto of Australia. The mine began production in 1972 with the Papua New Guinea National Government as a 20% shareholder of which the Bougainvilleans received 0.5–1.25% share of the total profit. It provided over 45% of Papua New Guinea's national export revenue and was incredibly important to the economy.

Bougainvillean leaders alleged that the mine had devastating environmental consequences for the island. They also claimed that Bougainville Copper had set up a system of apartheid on the island, with one set of facilities for white workers, and one set for the locals. They accused Bougainville Copper Ltd. (BCL), of being responsible for poisoning the entire length of the Jaba River, and causing birth defects, as well as the extinction of the flying fox on the island. This led to an uprising in 1988 led by Francis Ona, a Panguna landowner and the Commander of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army which caused civil war in Bougainville and led to the closure of the mine. Mine production was officially halted on 15 May 1989 and led to the complete withdrawal of BCL Personnel by 24 March 1990.