Highlands Pacific Limited today (Thursday June 21) announced that it is in
the advanced stages of negotiations on a capital raising with PNG Sustainable
Development Program Ltd (PNGSDP), which is considering taking up a
cornerstone investment in the company.
While it is anticipated that a final agreement between Highlands
and PNGSDP will be completed within the next two days, an agreement has not
been executed at this time and there can be no guarantee that an agreement will
be executed within two days or at all.
Managing director of Highlands Pacific John Gooding
said today: “While there are still some points to be finalised a
relationship with PNGSDP, a company with net assets of over US$1.43 billion, has
the potential to deliver significant benefits to Highlands, giving it the
financial and technical backing of a very large investment company that has
strong ties in Papua New Guinea and is the majority shareholder of Ok
Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML), in Western province, PNG.
"These connections could
be crucial for Highlands as it proceeds with any development at the Star Mountains
exploration project and also for the future development of the Frieda River
project.”
“In relation
to our projects Ramu is progressing well with ore commissioning and ramp‐up
continuing, drilling is continuing at the Star Mountains exploration and work
on the feasibility study at Frieda River continues.
"Recently Xstrata Copper has
advised that it has commenced a market evaluation of a number of the projects
in its portfolio, including Frieda River.
"This is consistent with their
announcement at the May annual general meeting where they stated ‘Xstrata
management will optimise the value of the mining portfolio’ and is consistent
with the approach of all major mining companies at present.
" Xstrata Copper have
also confirmed they are committed to completing the Frieda River Feasibility
Study by (or before) December this year.”
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About
PNG Sustainable Development Program Ltd
PNGSDP
was established in 2002, when BHP Billiton divested its 52%
shareholding in OTML. PNGSDP has the task to support and promote sustainable
development through projects and initiatives to benefit the people of PNG,
especially the people of Western province. PNGSDP is also a substantial
financial institution with the function of investment of its Long Term Fund and
Development Fund so that it can support a high level of development expenditure
in Western Province and PNG in general.
PNGSDP
is a company registered in Singapore and “limited by guarantee”, which means
that it has no share capital, debentures, share options or unissued shares. The
total net assets of PNGSDP in 2011 amounted to US$1.43 billion.
About
Ok Tedi Mine
OTML
operates the Ok Tedi mine which is located in the Star Mountains region of the
Western province. The mine started operations in 1984, and has become the
single largest business contributor to the economies of the Western province
and PNG.
The Ok Tedi mine is a
major producer of copper concentrate for the world smelting market in Germany,
India, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. The mine exports copper as the main
product but it also extracts gold and silver.
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