Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) will participate in the first meeting of the Joint Panguna Negotiation Coordination Committee (JPNCC) for 2014 this Wednesday 22 January.
The meeting is to be held in Port Moresby and will include representatives from the Autonomous Bougainville Government, customary landowners, the Government of Papua New Guinea and BCL.
The customary landowners of the mine affected areas of Central Bougainville are the driving force behind the JPNCC.
BCL recognises that the Panguna mine can only reopen with the backing of the landowners.
The scope of the JPNCC includes environmental, social and economic baseline studies, including public health and social mapping studies.
The environmental baseline study will be crucial for the future implementation of environmental programs.
The JPNCC also oversees Belkol, a customary process of remorse and redress after a conflict or dispute, with the ultimate aim of moving forward in unison.
BCL views the inclusive and robust nature of the JPNCC to be an important step towards the potential resumption of mining on Bougainville.