We received an exploration license with respect to redeveloping the Manetai Limestone and Lime Project in Manetai and completed a pre-feasibility study in December, 2022.
The Project was originally established to supply lime to the Panguna Mine and for sale to lime customers in the Australia-Asia region. We are proceeding with exploration and design work.
In the 1970s, after opening the Panguna Mine, Bougainville Copper Limited started looking at alternative options for securing supply of lime that was being imported from Japan. Lime in the form of quicklime (calcium oxide, CaO) or hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) are necessary in the recovery of gold, copper, silver and other metals in a concentrator facility.
In 1983, the Manetai Limestone Project in the Eivo–Torau Constituency of Central Bougainville was developed. It was a limestone mine and lime manufacturing plant comprising open cut mining operations (drill / blast, load and haul, crushing and screening), a vertical shaft kiln for quicklime production together with a hydration plant, storage and distribution facilities. The project produced approximately 25,000 tonnes of hydrated lime per year was capable of meeting BCL’s hydrated lime requirements.
We were granted an exploration license in 2022 and we have completed pre-feasibility and are proceeding with site preparation for further geological and exploratory drilling, sampling and required landowner identification and social mapping studies.
Currently, there are numerous copper and gold mines in PNG that require lime. However, there is currently no domestically produced lime except for lime produced onsite at several larger mines in PNG. The remainder of the lime is imported, typically from South East Asia including, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand. Shipping costs can be 150-200% of the actual product cost.