Bougainville Copper
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Bougainville Copper Ltd is a Australian copper, gold, and silver mining company that operated the Panguna open cut mine on the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea (PNG). It was one the the world´s largest open-pit mines. The Panguna mine dominated the economy of the island during the 1970s and 1980s. It also was highly significant to the overall PNG economy: In the 1970ies and the 1980ies the company´s tax and dividend payments added up to approx. 20% of PNG´s national budget.
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[edit] Shareholder structure
Major shareholders are Rio Tinto (53.6%), Papua New Guinea (19.1%) and the European Shareholders of Bougainville Copper (ESBC) with approx. 4%. The remaining freefloat of 23% is hold by private investors, many of which live on Bougainville Island.
[edit] History
The mine closed in 1989 as a result of sabotage by the Bougainville Revolutionary Army and associated forces, which sought Bougainville's secession from PNG.
The company was controlled by CRA Ltd, an Australian company which in turn was dominated by the British mining company Rio Tinto Zinc.
The mine nowadays remains closed but rumors about reopening the mine recently proved to be true with the BCL Managing Director Peter R. Taylor stating to be interested in reopening the Panguna mine. At the beginning of March 2006 first negotiations between Rio Tinto Group and the PNG Mining Minister Sam Akoitai have been confirmed.
Bougainville Copper Ltd. furthermore holds 7 additional mining licenses on Bougainville which currently remain under a mining moratorium.
The mine´s sudden closure but even more so the continued and unlawful gold digging of parts of the island´s population using toxic quicksilver resulted in severe environmental damage in the Panguna area. During the company´s annual meeting in May 2008 and brokered by the President of the European Shareholders of Bougainville Copper (ESBC), Axel G. Sturm, landowners from Panguna expressed their desire for BCL to return to the area. This move can be considered as a key step towards the reopening of the Panguna mine.
[edit] US lawsuit
Citizens of Bougainville have filed a class action lawsuit in the United States against Rio Tinto arising from the environmental damage caused by the mine and war crimes occurring during the civil war years. In August 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected Rio Tinto's effort to dismiss the claim. See Sarei v Rio Tinto, 456 F.3d 1069 (9th Cir. 2006).
