Hidden Valley a problem child — Newcrest CEO

by Allan Seccombe, 24 April 2013, 10:29

THE Hidden Valley mine in Papua New Guinea was a "problem child" and three key areas had come under focus to bring costs down, Greg Robinson, CEO of Australia's Newcrest Mining, which shares the project with Harmony Gold, said yon Tuesday."Hidden Valley is our problem child on a negative cash flow basis to us and we continue to see poor results," Mr Robinson said during a presentation on Newcrest's March-quarter results. Newcrest is Australia's largest gold miner and has guided the market to expect output of 2-million ounces to 2.15-million ounces of gold for this financial year.
Like its peers in South Africa, Newcrest is struggling with the fall in the gold price, strong Australian and Papua New Guinea currencies and rising costs. It has already cut 150 jobs.
Newcrest shares Hidden Valley with Harmony as well as the Wafi-Golpu exploration project that promises to be a large copper and gold mine.
Hidden Valley produced 18,988oz of gold for Newcrest, and Harmony will report similar results when it releases its third-quarter results on May 3. Hidden Valley produced 20,649oz for Newcrest in the December quarter. Harmony declined to comment on Mr Robinson's view, citing a closed period ahead of releasing its own results.
Hidden Valley's cash cost in the March quarter, which included production of 205,651oz of silver, was A$1,790/oz, up from A$1,584 in the previous quarter.
Mr Robinson said the partners were addressing the continuing problems at Hidden Valley, with them taking delivery of a primary crusher in May instead of this month, as had been expected. This would allow the mine to ramp up production from a high-grade part of the mine using conveyor belts to move the ore to the processing plant instead of relying on an expensive trucking option.
"It's a big priority," Mr Robinson said. Mine management was looking at ways to improve metal recoveries at the plant and it had brought in an independent operational review team to reduce costs by between 20% and 30% in the "very short term".
"We will continue to review the viability of this operation in particular after the primary crusher is in place and that we've taken the appropriate steps. We hope once we've done those, we'll have this thing back in a reasonable return profile ."
With Newcrest becoming "stingy" with its capital, analysts quizzed Mr Robinson about Wafi-Golpu, a $4.9bn project that has attracted criticism for Harmony from some analysts who argue it should focus on returning capital to shareholders rather than spend billions of rand on this project.

G-G attends Anzac dawn service in PNG

AAP

GOVERNOR-GENERAL Quentin Bryce has paid her respects to current and former Australian soldiers at an Anzac Day service at Papua New Guinea's Bomana war cemetery.

At today'smorning's ceremony, Ms Bryce was joined by PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and Australian High Commissioner to PNG Deborah Stokes, as well as her PNG counterpart Sir Michael Ogio.
More than 2, 000 people armed with glow sticks crowded into Bomana, located about 19km outside of Port Moresby.
"Wherever we come from and wherever we go, this is a day that gives pause and silence to our journey," Ms Bryce said in a short speech.
"A moment to remember the Australian soldiers, merchant navy men and airmen - and members of the Papua New Guinea local forces - who died defending this territory and ours.
"The tranquility of this clearing belies the desperate, bloody confrontations of the Kokoda campaign that took place beyond."
Bomana is final testing place to more than 3,000 soldiers killed serving in Papua New Guniea.
Australia and PNG formed close ties during World War II, with Australian soldiers being aided by locals known as Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels.
Ms Bryce will later fly to Isurava and Kokoda to pay her respects at memorials in both locations.
Anzac Day will mark the fourth day of Ms Bryce's five-day state visit to PNG.

Through a veteran's eyes

By Gaye Pattison and Allison Jess (ABC Local)

 

Bob Iskov has an important role. The 92-year-old was a member of the 2nd/14th Battalion who fought along the Kokoda Track during World War II. While many members of his former battalion have passed away or do not want to talk about their war experiences, Bob is one of the one's who "needs" to do it. 

Word War II veteran and retired Lieutenant Bob Iskov (Gaye Pattison - ABC Local)

"I think there is a message to pass on particularly to the younger generation.

"I like to think that the kids in some of the schools are taking a great interest in the War and what led up to it and I hope that makes sure it doesn't happen again, that is my biggest concern."
Iskov and his battalion arrived on the frontline of the Kokoda Track in 1942. The Kokoda Track campaign was a significant battle in World War II between the Japanese and the Allied forces - who were mostly Australian.
He says Anzac Day should always be remembered for the sacrifices and the mateships made in combat. During the Kokoda battle he says the role of the local Papua New Guinean villagers, fondly known as the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angles, should always be remembered.
"The usual jollity and fun and games ceased as we realised we were going into a serious situation, people kept their thoughts to themselves.
"You couldn't afford to be scared; you couldn't afford to show it 'cos you didn't want to let your mates down.
"One of the greatest fears we had was not being killed but being wounded and left behind. Perhaps to be slaughtered by the Japanese or left in the jungle to die."
The Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels saved many soldiers lives.
"(During a battle) One of my boys Bruce Cooper, he was a tough Kalgoorlie miner, he got a bit of shrapnel in his backside, we put him on a stretcher with another few who had been wounded... A group of Fuzzy Wuzzy's were brought in and took the stretchers away from us. They went way into the bush and the wounded spent the next 29 days in the hands of the Fuzzy Wuzzy's who kept them supplied with food but they would have had no medical supplied... Bruce Copper survived, the story is the maggots got into his backside and kept the wound clean otherwise he probably would have got gangrene and not survived.
"We could not have fought without them because they carried our rations, our stores, our ammunition and they had to carry enough food to feed themselves... They did it with a smile on their face.
"When I was in New Guinea just recently people came up to me in the street the woman doing the bedroom in the hotel I was staying at came up and said 'I want to thank you for saving our country'. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and put her arms around me and she was genuine.
"There is still a huge bond between Australian and the Funny Wuzzy's and that will never die."
Bob Iskov lives in Wangaratta in north east Victoria.

Man killed aunt over accusations she was a witch in Papua New Guinea

AFP

A PAPUA New Guinean who accused his aunt of sorcery and killed her with an axe has been jailed for 30 years.

Saku Uki Aiya, 21, was found guilty of the "senseless, barbaric and brutal" killing after a two-day trial in Enga province in the impoverished Pacific nation's northern highlands.
The ruling comes days after the United Nations urged a tougher stance on such murders.
The National newspaper cited local police commander Sergeant Simon Mek as saying it was the first sorcery-related killing in the area to reach a national court.
"So many such cases are reported but rarely go through to the high court as relatives accept their own customary ways of settlement in the village courts," Mek said.
There is a widespread belief in sorcery in PNG, where many people do not accept natural causes as an explanation for misfortune and death, and there have been a spate of recent high-profile cases.

A PNG woman was set alight in Mount Hagen in Papua New Guinea in February after being accused of sorcery. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

The beheading of an elderly woman accused of witchcraft earlier this month prompted the UN to demand the government in Port Moresby tackle the scourge.
The UN urged an end to extra-judicial killings linked to accusations of sorcery and renewed calls for the government to repeal the Sorcery Act 1971, introduced to aid the passage of witchcraft cases through the courts.
While the act criminalised the practice of sorcery, critics say that granting the phenomenon legal recognition has led to an increase in false accusations.
"The UN is deeply disturbed with the increasing reports of violence, torture and murder of persons accused of practising sorcery around the country," the UN said.
"These vigilante killings constitute murder and must not be treated with impunity."
In Aiya's case, the court heard he blamed his aunt for the death of his brother and with two accomplices, who remain at large, went to her home in 2010 and bludgeoned her on the neck and head with axes and knives.
In jailing him, Justice Mekeo Gauli said accusations of sorcery were becoming more frequent, the newspaper reported.
"In my view some are using sorcery as an excuse to terminate someone's life though the suspect may not be a sorcerer," the judge said, urging people to use the courts to settle disputes and not take the law into their own hands.

Australian Governor-General pays tribute to diggers in PNG

ByEoin Blackwell, 

AAP Papua New Guinea Correspondent

GOVERNOR-GENERAL Quentin Bryce has laid a flower at the grave of the first Australian fighter killed in World War I during her state visit to Papua New Guinea.

Ms Bryce paused at the grave of W.G.V. Williams at Bita Paka war cemetery in Rabaul on Tuesday, the second day of her visit.
Seaman Williams died on September 11, 1914, following a skirmish with the Germans on the site where the cemetery is now located.
Bita Paka is the final resting place of more than 400 Australians killed in two world wars.
Ms Bryce also laid a wreath at a memorial to members of Lark force who died in East New Britain and on the Montevideo Maru.
The sinking of the Japanese transport ship almost 71 years ago carrying prisoners of war and civilians from Rabaul is considered Australia's worst wartime maritime disaster.
After arriving in New Britain aboard a Royal Australian Airforce C130 Hercules, Ms Bryce travelled to a health clinic to deliver medicine and medical supplies.

She visited Kokopo primary school, where Ausaid has built two schoolrooms, to meet students and plant a tree.
At a lunch in her honour at the Kokopo beach bungalow, former PNG governor-general Sir Paulias Matane told Ms Bryce she and Prime Minister Julia Gillard were an inspiration to women in PNG.
Ms Bryce said the treatment of women was a grave problem in the Pacific island nation.
"It's the most important human rights issue in the world and it's a very grave issue in this country," Ms Bryce said.
"The world must take action in every country.
"It's time we heard more men speaking out."
Sir Paulias said PNG must face up to its treatment of women and confront the violence in society.
"We are going to do our best to change the thinking of these people," he said.
Violence against women is an endemic problem in PNG and has been brought to international attention following the burning murder in February of 20-year-old Kepari Leniata, accused of witchcraft.
More recently, a US academic was pack-raped near Madang on the nation's east coast.
Ms Bryce also visited the Family and Sexual Violence Unit at Kokopo police station for a private conversation with survivors of domestic violence.
On Wednesday Ms Bryce will meet with women's groups at PNG's Parliament House in Port Moresby.
On Thursday she will attend a dawn service at Port Moresby's Bomana war cemetery, before flying to Isurava and Kokoda to lay wreaths at memorials there.
She will return to Australia on Friday.

Four arrested over PNG gang rape

AFP

PORT MORESBY: Police in Papua New Guinea have detained four men over the gang-rape of a US academic after a massive manhunt, with officials urging locals to help find five suspects still on the run.
The American woman said she was was stripped naked, had her hands bound and was raped by the armed mob last week after they tied up her husband and a guide on a jungle trail on Karkar Island in Madang province.

Spoke out to raise awareness: the US academic. Photo: AFP

She spoke about her ordeal before returning to the United States to raise awareness about rampant violence against women in PNG.
"I hope my story can make a change," she said.
Madang provincial police commander Chief Superintendent Sylvester Kalaut on Tuesday told the National Broadcasting Corporation of PNG that seven of the men allegedly sexually assaulted the woman while two others kept watch.
"I'm appealing to the law-abiding citizens on Karkar to help police with information so we can have all of the suspects rounded up," he said. "Obviously it's best for our country.
"Our people are abusing expatriates who are here in the province or the country who are here to provide services to our people."
The academic's case came barely a week after an Australian was killed and his friend sexually assaulted by a group of men in the Western Highlands. Prime Minister Peter O'Neill condemned the attack as the "cowardly act of animals".
The National newspaper on Tuesday reported that two men were being questioned over that incident, but up to eight remained at large.
As well as the attacks on foreigners, PNG's reputation has been blighted recently by a savage spate of "sorcery"-related crimes, including murders and beheadings, prompting condemnation from the United Nations.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/four-arrested-over-png-gang-rape-20130423-2ic3w.html#ixzz2RHUnDy1p

PNG needs some of our Anzac spirit

By Tim Costello

As we approach Anzac Day, Australians are prompted to reflect on our national character. Drawing on events far from our shores close to a century ago, we lay claim to a particular combination of traits: mateship, pulling together, and brave sacrifice.
Anzac Day should also prompt us to look at those actions closer to home that help define us as good mates, ready to pull together for a common cause. I'm talking about the importance of our relationship with Papua New Guinea – Australia's closest neighbour.
Our countries have enduring ties due to proximity, people, and history – and that includes shared experiences in theatres of war, like Kokoda.
The genuine warmth of the relationship is evidenced by the assistance our diggers received from ordinary Papua New Guineans during World War II (some of whom we continue to dub 'angels'), and our enduring gratitude for that.
So it is a natural expression of Australia's deep-rooted cultural values to continue to engage closely with PNG, and to assist our friends to meet the complex challenges they face. Together we can build bridges – sometimes life-giving ones.
Australia's Governor-General Quentin Bryce is currently in PNG, and I visited Port Moresby earlier this month. During that trip I was able to deepen my personal engagement with the people of PNG, as well as with some of the many Australians who live and work there.
Importantly, I was also able to witness how partnerships between the Australian and PNG governments, non-government organisations and local communities are improving the lives of Papua New Guineans.
One of the most pressing challenges facing Papua New Guinea and other countries in our immediate region is the prevalence of tuberculosis. TB is a major problem around the world, yet doesn't seem to claim as many headlines as malaria or HIV. According to World Health Organisation 2011 data, global TB hotspots include many countries in Africa (from Sierra Leone to South Africa), as well as Bangladesh, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
In the Asia Pacific region, TB is a bigger killer than malaria, killing more than 200,000 people in the region in 2011.
In PNG, reducing the spread of TB is a difficult challenge – the remoteness of some villages and lack of advanced health infrastructure in these areas, coupled with the difficulty of patients sticking to a six-month course of medication, has seen drug-resistant strains of the disease gain a foothold.
The TB challenge in our immediate region is an urgent one, but the situation is improving. PNG is making encouraging headway on the issue. The Government of PNG (through the National Department of Health) has increased efforts, in cooperation with organisations including the Global Fund, World Health Organisation, AusAID and international NGOs like World Vision. Australia's aid program is a key part of this effort.
In the last few years, Papua New Guinea's National TB Program has seen the STOP TB Strategy rolled out in every province and tens of thousands of people have been enrolled and successfully treated for TB.
On the ground in TB-affected communities, World Vision's approach, as a partner in this program, involves helping to build and strengthen local systems to improve health and wellbeing – this is a good example of assistance delivering sustainable improvements.
TB detection rates are up, allowing more and more people to receive free treatment. Things are improving, but a long-term commitment is needed. Improved health facilities, better community-based monitoring of treatment regimes, and more research into cost-effective diagnostic technology are all needed.
My hope is that World Vision – together with the PNG and Australian governments, private and corporate partners and other agencies – can overcome the challenges and profoundly impact the lives of people in need in PNG for the better.
Essentially, it's the right thing to do – working together with our closest neighbour for a better future. It is our responsibility and it is in our interest. Just as the diggers were helped by Papua New Guineans wanting to do the right thing, Australia needs to keep on doing the right thing by them.


*Tim Costello is chief executive of World Vision Australia

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/png-needs-some-of-our-anzac-spirit-20130422-2iaw5.html#ixzz2RElbtOTc