The role of land-owning communities in Papua New Guinea's Mineral Policy Framework

The chapter explores development and operational mining policy, but includes a section on closure. The attention of PNG policy makers in the mining sector has begun to shift from the 'front end' to the 'rear end' of the project cycle, as investment in mineral exploration has continued its downward trend, and the closure of existing operations looms close. The growing value of the community benefit packages negotiated through the development forum has accentuated the question of how the inevitable fact of mine closure will affect the recipients of the package. By 1999, the Department of Mining realised the need for a mine closure policy which would encompass such issues and, by the end of 2000, the World Bank had persuaded the department to spend part of the loan allocated to the Mining Sector Institutional Strengthening Project on production of a sustainable development policy that would encompass them even more thoroughly.