Mr. Mark Bristow reports

COURT DECISION ALLOWS CONTINUED MINING AT PORGERA

The National Court of Papua New Guinea today ruled that the provisions of the country's 1992 Mining Act applied to Barrick Gold Corp.'s Porgera gold mine, thus allowing it to continue operating while the application to extend its special mining lease is being considered. The current lease expires on Aug. 16, 2019. All amounts are in U.S. dollars.

Porgera is operated by Barrick Niugini Ltd., a joint venture between Barrick Gold and Zijin Mining Company. Barrick president and chief executive Mark Bristow and Zijin executive director and senior vice-president George Fang are currently in Papua New Guinea to discuss the proposed extension with the government and the Porgera special mining lease landowners.

Mr. Bristow and Mr. Fang welcomed the court's ruling, saying it allowed for continuation of their operations at Porgera post-Aug. 16, which would enable the mine to continue delivering substantial benefits to communities and landowners in the Porgera Valley, as well as to the national and provincial governments, while the SML extension was finalized. The ruling also confirmed that Porgera operated under the 1992 Mining Act and was entitled to seek an extension.

They noted that Porgera was one of the largest mines in PNG and had been a key driver in its regional, provincial and national economies for the past 30 years. Over that time it has paid more than 4.3 billion kina ($1.27-billion) in taxes and royalties to the government and has contributed, on average, 10 per cent of the country's export income. It is also one of the largest employers in the country, with more than 3,100 PNG employees. It has spent 1.2 billion kina ($353-million) with local businesses and paid one billion kina ($294-million) in equity cash to the Enga provincial government and Porgera landowners, who are part-owners of the mine.

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