The Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) of Papua New Guinea (PNG) will be launching its Mineral Production Data Repository Hub soon to coincide with the Authority’s planned 15th anniversary celebrations.
The Mineral Production Data Repository Hub is a new system that will allow the MRA, to have access to mineral data from all operating mines in PNG, in real-time.
This means, MRA will have dedicated officers sit in the hub at the Mining Haus in Port Moresby, where they will have copies of the same data in real time, which their counter-parts at mine sites will have access to.
The type of information shared will include the tonnage of the mineral ore that goes through the plant and the amount going out through exports.
According to the MRA, in the last 40 years mining companies have been submitting a form to them stating the amount of mineral they have been exporting.
However, the MRA as the regulator has had no way of verifying the data given in the forms.
The system will not only allow the MRA and the state to independently monitor the minerals mined and exported, it will also give mining companies greater leverage on their transparency scale in the international stage.
It will ensure that there is transparency and all minerals leaving the country are accounted for.
But more importantly the country stands to benefit more from its resources.