Papua New Guinea covers an area of 462,800 square kilometers. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean. It borders Indonesia's Irian Jaya province in the west and faces Australia across the Torres Strait in the south. It belongs to Melanesia. There are 600 islands in the whole territory. The main islands include New England, New Ireland, Mannasz, Bougainville and Buka. The coastline is 8,300 kilometers long, and the water area including the exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles is 2.3 million square kilometers. The climate above 1000 m is mountainous, and the rest is tropical rain forest. May ~ 10 is the dry season, and11~ April is the rainy season. The average temperature in coastal areas is 2 1. 1 ~ 32.2℃, which is 5 ~ 6℃ lower in mountainous areas than in coastal areas. The average annual precipitation is 2500mm. The population is 4.8 million. 98% belong to melanesians, Micronesians, Polynesians and Chinese account for 1%, and whites account for 1%. English is the official language, Piqin is popular all over the country, and there are more than 700 local languages. Papua people speak Mozambican, New Guinea people speak Piqin, and 93% of the residents are Christians. Traditional fetishism also has some influence. Port moresby, the capital, is called Kina.
The country is rich in mineral resources, with 944 million tons of copper and 400 million tons of copper and gold. In addition, there are abundant resources such as gold, chromium, nickel, bauxite, submarine natural gas and oil. In which gold reserve1831t; Copper reserves are 65.438+0.3 billion t; The crude oil reserves in Kutubu and Gobe oil fields alone reach 400 million barrels. Natural gas reserves are 14 trillion cubic feet.
Foreign trade plays an important role in Papua New Guinea's economy. Mainly exporting copper, gold, sand and other primary products. In 2000, the export volume of Papua New Guinea's main industrial and agricultural products was as follows: 97 tons of gold, 29 million barrels of crude oil and 0/74,000 tons of copper. The main export targets are Australia, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Britain, Singapore, the United States and China. This country actively encourages foreign investment. The main investors are Australia (accounting for nearly 2/3 of the total), the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and Malaysia. Almost all industries, mining, forestry, agriculture and fisheries in Papua New Guinea are controlled by companies from Australia, Japan, Britain and the United States.
I. Reserves and resources
Papua New Guinea is located in the volcanic belt around the Pacific Ocean, where the stable southern margin of the Indo-Australian plate meets the northern margin of the Pacific plate, forming a unique geological structure and rich mineral resources. In the past hundreds of millions of years, Papua New Guinea has experienced uplift and compressive deformation due to the collision between the Indo-Australian plate moving northward and the Pacific plate moving westward. The geological structure of Papua New Guinea is complex, including Australian Craton, New Guinea Orogenic Belt, Melanesian Island Arc and Pacific Plate.
Papua New Guinea is rich in mineral resources, with proven copper reserves of 2,654.38+10,000 tons, gold reserves of 3 1 10 tons, crude oil reserves of 530 million barrels, natural gas reserves of 6.25 trillion ft3, and copper and gold ore of about 400 million tons. In addition, there are resources such as chromium, nickel, bauxite, submarine natural gas and oil (table 1).
1. copper
Copper resources are mainly concentrated in Panguna in bougainville island, alcott Di in Fubilan Mountain in western province (orcutt Di copper mine is the eighth largest copper mine in the world), Frida in the south of sepik river and Jandra in Bismarck Mountain, all of which are Cenozoic porphyry-skarn copper-gold deposits. Among them, the copper mine in the central mountainous area of bougainville island, with an estimated ore reserve of over 800 million t, is one of the huge copper mine areas in the world.
Table 1 Proved reserves of main minerals in Papua New Guinea Unit: 10,000 tons (metal quantity)
Source: Mineral Commodities Summary, 2008.
2. Gold and silver
The gold deposits in Papua New Guinea are mostly volcanic and porphyry copper-gold deposits, with gold reserves of about 1756 t. The gold deposits are mainly distributed in new ireland province, Nga, Bougainville, West, Milne Bay and Central provinces. The most famous are Bogra Gold Mine and Lihir Island Hot (Spring) Gold Mine, both of which were discovered in 1990s. They are huge and world-class gold deposits, of which Lihir Island Gold Mine is located in Lihir Island, new ireland province, 700 kilometers northeast of the capital port moresby, with a gold reserve of 573 tons, and Bogra Gold Mine is located in Nga Province, 620 kilometers northwest of the capital port moresby, with a gold reserve of 420 tons. In addition, there are more than 500 tons of gold resources in Panguna porphyry copper-gold mine in bougainville island. Alcott Di copper-gold deposit in the west is also rich in gold resources. Silver mines are mostly associated with gold mines, mainly distributed in western provinces, Bougainville provinces, Nga provinces and central provinces.
3. Nickel and Cobalt
The nickel and cobalt resources in Papua New Guinea are mainly concentrated in Madang province in the southeast of the island, among which Lamu nickel and cobalt deposit is a world-class large laterite nickel deposit, and the known resources are about nickel 1.443 million t and cobalt1.430 t..
4. Oil and gas
The oil and gas in Papua New Guinea are mainly distributed in the onshore areas of the Papua Basin, with the highest concentration in the southern highland province, followed by the eastern highland province and the Gulf province. Papua Bay has great potential for oil and gas resources, and the current offshore oil and gas exploration activities are mainly concentrated in this area. In 2006, Papua New Guinea's remaining proven oil reserves were 32.88 million tons and natural gas reserves were 345.667 billion cubic meters.
Two. Mineral exploration and production
Mining is the cornerstone of Papua New Guinea's economy. In 2004, the output value of mining industry accounted for 265,438+0% of Papua New Guinea's GDP. In 2006, the export of mineral products was $3,465,438 +0.5 billion, accounting for 83% of the country's commodity exports. See Table 2 for the output of mineral products. The mining activities in Papua New Guinea mainly include the following four major mines: Lihir gold mine in new ireland province, Ok Tedi copper and gold mine in western province, Misima gold and silver mine in Mirenwan province in Mirenku province, and Porgera gold mine in Nga province.
The feasibility study of Frida copper-gold mine project will end on 20 1 1, and the copper-gold mine developed by this project will be one of the largest copper-gold mines in the world. Through drilling, 42.7 million tons of mineral resources were discovered, including copper grade of 3.09% and gold grade of 0.59 g/ton.
In 2006, Papua New Guinea ranked fourth in Asia and the Pacific Rim in terms of copper and gold production.
1. oil
In 2006, Papua New Guinea produced about17.3 million barrels of crude oil, ranking ninth in the Asia-Pacific region. The main producer is Chevron Niugini Co., Ltd., which operates the Central Moran Oilfield, Kutubu Oilfield and Gobe Oilfield in the Southern Plateau Province. Santos co., ltd. produces a small amount of crude oil in Se Gobe oilfield in southern highland province. ExxonMobil is also one of the major oil field development and operation companies. The above three companies are only the main management companies of oil production in Papua New Guinea. The major shareholder of the real oil field is Petroleum Search Limited, an oil and gas exploration and development company controlled by Papua New Guinea. It started operating in Papua New Guinea from 1929, and then went public in Australia. At present, it is one of the largest companies in Papua New Guinea, with about 70% of the country's oil reserves, accounting for about 65,438+. Oil Search Limited employs about 900 employees in Papua New Guinea, Australia, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates. With the continuous rise of international oil prices, the company has maintained profit growth for five consecutive years. In 2006, the after-tax profit was $4120,000, a year-on-year increase of 106%, the highest in the company's 77-year history. The oil and gas production is 10.2 million barrels, slightly lower than122 million barrels in 2005. The average selling price of oil was $67.22 per barrel, up 16% year-on-year. Peter Botten, CEO of the oil exploration company, said that the company's oil production will remain at around 50,000 barrels per day in the next three years. The only oil refining project in Papua New Guinea is located in port moresby, with a production capacity of 32,500 barrels per day. The operator is Canadian interOil Company. In addition to meeting domestic demand, 50% of petroleum refining products are exported to neighboring countries or regions.
2. Natural gas
Papua New Guinea is rich in natural gas resources, but the current development level is low. In 2006, the natural gas output was about 654.38+550 million m3, mainly from the Hides gas field in the southern plateau province. The operator is ExxonMobil of the United States, and Yousou owns 265.438+0.5% of the shares. In addition to Hides gas field, there are many gas fields or oil and gas fields in Papua New Guinea, such as Agogo, Gobe Main, Hedinia, Kutubu, Moran, Angore, Juha, ELK 1, Se Gobe and Usano, but they have not been effectively utilized at present.
In order to develop its natural gas resources on a large scale, Papua New Guinea is currently planning to introduce international mining capital to build LNG projects. In 2007, the government of China announced plans to launch what it called "the world's largest LNG project". On May 22nd, 2008, the government of Papua New Guinea signed this huge LNG project. The project will be operated by ExxonMobil, and the engineering design and construction inspection (FEED) in the early stage of the project will cost 400 million US dollars and take 16 months. Joint venture partners include ExxonMobil (4 1.5%), Petroleum Search (34%), Santos (17.7%), AGL(3.6%), landowners (1.2%) and so on. The direct investment of the project is US$ 654.38+00 billion, the project duration is 30 years, the estimated production capacity is 6.3 million t/ a, and at least two LNG production lines will be built. Natural gas mainly comes from Hides gas field, and neighboring Angore and Juha gas fields will also supplement gas supply. When to start project investment will not be decided until the end of next year. After the project is completed, Papua New Guinea will become an important LNG exporter in the Asia-Pacific region.
In addition, in order to develop the remaining discovered natural gas resources more effectively, in July 2008, Yousou signed a domestic natural gas development agreement with the government of Papua New Guinea. The main contents of the agreement include: ① establishing energy enterprises in the southern highlands, evaluating the energy supply potential and other small-scale natural gas development opportunities in the region; (2) Establish natural gas development and research cooperative enterprises in western provinces with PNG Sustainable Development Company and PNG Government; ③ Joint venture with Itochu and Mitsubishi Chemical to evaluate methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) projects; ④ Study the safe and stable power supply in port moresby. It is believed that the degree of natural gas development in Papua New Guinea will be greatly improved in the next few years.
3. Copper
Copper is the main mineral in Papua New Guinea. The annual output of copper mines is about 200,000 tons, which has declined in the past two years. In 2006, the output was about 194000 tons, all from the Ok Tedi mine in western province. This mine is the only copper mine normally produced in Pakistan at present, and its operator is Okteddy Mining Co., Ltd. (Papua New Guinea National Sustainable Development Project Company owns 52% of the shares and the Pakistani government owns them). In 2006, the company produced 62.2 t copper-gold concentrate (including copper178,000 t and gold 15.7 t). 1989 After the Panguna copper mine was forced to stop production, orcutt Di became Pakistan's main economic source, and one-fifth of Pakistan's total exports came from here. According to the 2006 annual report of orcutt Di Mining Co., Ltd., due to the rapid rise of international copper products prices, the company's sales revenue in 2006 was 4.6 billion kina (about 65.438+53 billion US dollars), up 40% year-on-year. After-tax profit was 65.438+09 billion kina (about 630 million US dollars), a year-on-year increase of 79%, the highest in the company's 25-year history. At present, the mine employs 2000 regular employees and 2000 contract workers.
The Okteddy copper mine is scheduled to close on 20 13, but it will not affect the copper production in Papua new guinea. At present, a number of large-scale copper mine projects are under way or planned to start, including three projects with more than US$ 654.38+0 billion, including the Yandera copper mine project of marengo mining company, the gold mine project of South African Harmony Company and the copper and gold mine project of Statra Copper Company. Three copper mine projects are expected to produce 350,000 tons of copper annually. The submarine mineral project in Papua New Guinea will also provide Papua New Guinea with a large amount of copper production capacity in the near future. Jan De Nul of Belgium (the second largest mining company in the world, with the largest mining ship in the world at present) will be responsible for designing remote control technology for seabed mineral development. If the project is realized, Papua New Guinea is expected to become the first country in the world to conduct deep seabed mining.
1997, the government of Papua New Guinea granted Nautilus Mining Company the world's first seabed exploration license to explore and evaluate the high-grade copper-gold-silver-zinc sulfide deposit (water depth about 1700 m) on the west coast of new ireland province. Nautilus Mining Company's strategy is to become the first company in the world to conduct deep seabed commercial mining. At present, the company plans to conduct commercial exploitation of seabed minerals on the west coast of new ireland province. The first batch of exploration results were obtained in May 2006. The ore belt is1300m long and 80 ~120m wide, with gold grade15.5g/ton and copper grade 10. 1%. The analysis of the samples obtained in September 2006 shows that the gold grade is10.3g/ton, the zinc grade is 22. 1%, and the silver grade is 418g/ton ... The regional manager of the company in Papua New Guinea has submitted the mineral project development plan to the government of new ireland province, and the press department of the government of new ireland province, Papua New Guinea reported that.
In addition, the Australian Bougainville Copper Company is currently evaluating the feasibility of restarting the abandoned Panguna copper mine in bougainville island, with the goal of regaining mining profits. Panguna copper mine was put into production on 1972 and was once the most important mine in Papua New Guinea. Panguna copper mine was closed in 1989 (at that time, it was the fifth largest copper mine in the world), because bougainville island was caught in a separatist conflict caused by land ownership dispute and environmental damage. Since the closure of Panguna Copper Mine, no official of Bougainville Copper Company has been allowed to enter the mine. At present, Bougainville Copper Company is negotiating with the widely representative local communities in bougainville island to resume mining. The bougainville island Autonomous Government hopes that the resumption of mining on the island will bring in revenue, but it says that the premise is to obtain the full consent of the landowners and local residents.
4. Gold and silver
The mine output of gold and silver in Papua New Guinea is between 50 ~ 50 ~ 60t. In 2005, the mine output was 68.5 t and 565,438+0.65t, 438+0 t respectively, and decreased in 2006. The main mines are Kenantou (gold), Lihir (gold), orcutt Di (copper, gold and silver), Borjera (gold and silver) and Tolukuma (gold and silver). The largest gold mine is Porgera mine in Jean province, with a production capacity of 28 tons of gold in 2006. Its operator is Porgera Joint Venture (Placer Dome of Canada owns 75% of the shares). Lihir Gold Co., Ltd. is another important gold producer, operating Lihir Gold Mine in new ireland province. The reserve of the mine is about 23.6 million ounces. It is estimated that the life of the mine is 37 years, and the average annual output is about 19 t, and the average annual output is about 7 t in the next 22 years. Orcutt Di is the largest silver mine with a production capacity of 40 t in 2006.
5. Nickel and Cobalt
At present, Papua New Guinea does not produce nickel and nickel, but there is a world-class nickel-cobalt mine project under development, namely the Ramu nickel-cobalt mine project in Madang province of Papua New Guinea. In June, 2006 +065438+ 10, PNG Prime Minister Somare personally attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the completion of the Lamu nickel-cobalt mine project in Papua New Guinea, marking the official start of the project. This project is jointly developed by China Metallurgical Construction Group (hereinafter referred to as MCC) and Australian Highland Pacific Company. MCC owns 85% equity of the joint venture company, and is responsible for project construction, providing construction funds and early development and construction. Ramu Nickel, a subsidiary of Highland Pacific, will own 8.56% of the joint venture company. At that time, it was estimated that the total investment of this project was about US$ 650 million, which was the largest overseas mineral resources investment project of China company except oil.
Plateau Pacific Company initially held 8.56% of the shares in Lamu Nickel-Cobalt Mine Project, but its shares will increase to 1 1.3% after the project financing debt is repaid. The company also has the option to buy 9.25% shares of Lamu Nickel Cobalt Project at the market price. If implemented, its total shareholding will increase to 20.55%. The estimated ore resources of Lamu nickel-cobalt mine are 65.438+0.43 billion tons, with nickel content of 654.38+0.065.438+0% and cobalt content of 0.654.38+0%, of which the confirmed reserves are about 50%. According to the annual output of 32,800 tons of nickel and 3,280 tons of cobalt, the mining period of this mine will exceed 20 years. The ore mined by this mine will be transported to the processing plant in Basamuk Bay on the Rye coast through the pulp pipeline of 132 km. The mine will be put into production in the second half of 2009, with an estimated annual output of 32,800 tons of nickel and 3,280 tons of cobalt, and its operation period will exceed 20 years. The development cost is estimated to be 800 million US dollars (2.5 billion kinas), and the processing plant and mine infrastructure projects are expected to start in April 2007. It is also reported that China Jilin Nickel Group Company joined the joint venture project in June 2006. China Jinchuan Group Corporation is also negotiating to join the joint venture project.
Table 2 Output of Main Minerals in Papua New Guinea
Source: Papua New Guinea. Mineral Yearbook, 2006.
Three. Mining management and taxation
Mining management
1. Mining right management
Papua New Guinea promulgated the Mining Law and the Petroleum Law on 1992 respectively. Establish a modern franchise system for mineral and petroleum resources. According to the law, the ownership of mineral and oil resources belongs to the state. The government has the right to issue mineral and oil exploration and production licenses. At present, the competent department of mining is the Ministry of Mining and Petroleum.
1992 Mining Law stipulates the types of mining industry, the form of mining development contracts, the payment of rents, related fees and royalties, the registration of land lease rights and transactions, and the compensation for affected landowners. The main mining rights of large-scale operation stipulated in the Mining Law are exploration license and special mining lease. The exploration license determines the exclusive right to explore certain minerals in a specific area. Special mining lease and placer lease. There are also some auxiliary warrants, such as mining licenses. The specific procedure is to negotiate and sign a mining development agreement with the state. The Minister of Mines and Petroleum will approve the development proposal and reach an agreement with the landowner on the basis of appropriate compensation.
1998 petroleum law stipulates three kinds of licenses, namely, petroleum exploration license, petroleum retention license and petroleum development license. An oil exploration license allows the holder to conduct oil and gas exploration activities in the designated area. The oil exploration license has exclusive rights to oil exploration in the designated area, but the license holder must also sign an agreement with the government on oil exploration and development in the leased land. The oil reserve license gives the holder the right to exploit oil in certain areas, which can not be exploited temporarily due to economic reasons, but can be exploited in the medium term.
According to the current national policy, the state has the right to buy up to 30% equity of large-scale mining projects and up to 22.5% equity of oil projects. When the project is approved for development, the state will buy shares from the developer according to the input cost. The state does not participate in small and medium-sized projects.
2. Rights and interests of landowners
(1) Land owner's rights and interests: part of the shares held by the state in major mining projects and oil projects are distributed to provincial governments and land owners in the project area, and the traditional ownership of land owners is recognized. For oil projects, the landowner can get 2% equity, and the expenses before commercial production are paid by the 22.5% equity held by the government, but then the landowner can get up to 5% equity. Before the commercial production of the project, the landowner does not need to pay the fees, but after the commercial production of the project, the landowner must pay all the fees. The specific rights and interests of the landowner shall be determined through consultation when granting the special mining lease.
(2) Compensation of land owners: According to Mining Law and Petroleum Law, developers need to provide reasonable compensation to land owners, occupiers and other rights holders affected by the project. Specifically, it is determined by the developer, the land owner and the occupier through consultation.
3. Establish state-owned mining industry
1996, Papua New Guinea established a state-owned resource company-Mineral Resources Development Company, with Oroqen Minerals Co., Ltd. holding 5 1%, issuing shares on the Australian Stock Exchange, and social investors holding 49%. The company owns shares in Misima, Borguela and Lihir, Gobe and Katubu oil fields under construction. If Panguna mine resumes production, it has the right to buy the shares of Mineral Resources Development Corporation in the mine. According to the option agreement with the government, the company will own up to 25% of the shares in any major new mineral projects in the country in the next 25 years.
4. Pay attention to infrastructure construction
Generally speaking, the state insists that all infrastructure costs related to the project should be borne and paid by the developers. The state implements a tax credit plan in the income tax law, allowing taxpayers of mining and petroleum projects to spend up to 0.75% of the tax revenue from mining and petroleum operations on approved infrastructure construction, which will be deducted from the income tax by the state. Through this plan, large-scale projects in Papua New Guinea provide infrastructure for local residents, including schools, police stations, roads and convenient post offices.
5. Encourage the development of local enterprises.
The government encourages the establishment of new enterprises in mining or oil development zones in various ways. When bidding, the developer must include qualified contractors and suppliers in Papua New Guinea; Give priority to the use of local goods and services under the same conditions; Require developers to support the development of local enterprises. In addition, the government requires developers to give priority to hiring local people and training, and supervise this.
(2) Mining tax
1. Income tax
General industry is 30%, mining project tax is 35% for domestic companies and 48% for non-domestic companies. Domestic companies pay 17% withholding tax to non-residents. Oil projects are subject to 50% income tax, and natural gas is subject to 30% income tax, but dividend withholding tax is not levied. All exploration and development expenses can be amortized from the project income. In 2000, the government adjusted the tax system. Reduce the tax rate of mining companies to 30% and the dividend withholding tax to 10%. The company is allowed to deduct 25% of the exploration expenses from the total income. The new tax system is only applicable to ongoing projects and ensures the stability of the financial system during the financial period of the project.
Oil projects and large-scale mining projects are also subject to project-based tax assessment. Taxpayers of this kind of project shall pay taxes according to this project except for some special circumstances, and other activities shall be calculated together with this project.
2. Excess profit tax
Excess profit tax is paid when the taxpayer has recovered his investment and the net cash flow exceeds a certain rate of return. Oil projects, the specific rate of return is 27%. If it exceeds this value, a 50% excess profit tax will be levied on the net cash income. Natural gas project, the specific rate of return is 20%. If it exceeds this value, an excess profit tax of 35% will be levied on the net cash income. For large-scale mining projects, the specific rate of return is 20%, or according to the average profit of the US Treasury in that year 12%, depending on the choice of taxpayers. The portion exceeding this specific rate of return will be taxed at the rate of 35%. When the tax system was adjusted in 2000, the excess profit tax and specific rate of return (threshold) of mining projects were reduced to 15%. The government also plans to phase out the mining tax in four years.
3. royalties
The oil and minerals produced by this project should pay royalties to the state at the tax rate of 2%. This income is distributed to the provincial government and landowners. For mining management, when mineral products are exported without refining, royalties are calculated according to the offshore export price. If minerals are extracted in Papua New Guinea, royalties are calculated based on the income of smelters. For petroleum business, it is calculated according to the wellhead oil price. Of the 2% royalty, 1.25% can be deducted from income tax, and the remaining 0.75% can enjoy tax relief.
4. Import tariffs
Special commodities imported by mining industry and oil industry still need to pay tariffs, and a package tariff rate is adopted. The tariff rate of imported goods for Misima and Borguela gold projects is 16.62%, and that for Lihir gold projects is 14.62%.
Special exploration or survey equipment shall be exempted from import duties.
(3) Environmental management
Protecting the environment is an obligation stipulated in the Constitution of Papua New Guinea. The Ministry of Environment and Protection is the main government agency responsible for environmental protection, management and supervision of all resource development projects. At present, the main environmental laws and regulations promulgated in this country are: environmental planning law, which requires projects with great environmental impact to submit environmental planning; Environmental pollution law, which requires obtaining permits from environmental polluters; "Water Resources Law", which specifies in detail the payment of compensation, official use right, water intake right and water use permit to water resource owners; Law on Protected Areas, which provides protection for areas with special biological, geomorphological, geological, historical, scientific and social significance; The Law on the Dumping of Marine Wastes stipulates that dumping wastes into the sea requires a license.
Fourth, look ahead.
Papua New Guinea's economy is developing steadily and its mining industry is developing actively, but the decline in copper prices has a certain negative impact on its mining development. In the next three to five years, the Frida copper-gold project and the Ramu nickel-cobalt project will promote the mining development in Papua New Guinea.
Main references
[1] Country Profile of Papua New Guinea. World Trade Talent Network, 2006. 9. 22/ZJTG/ Academic Papers/200809/T20080928 _ 280217.htm.