KILLING THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGGS—THE STORY OF THE PANGUNA MINE, BOUGAINVILLE ISLAND, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

• Published in: Terra Nova
• Main Author: Brooks, C.K.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1991
• Subjects: Bougainville; Greenland; Pacific
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3121.1991.tb00849.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-3121.1991.tb00849.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-3121.1991.tb00849.x

This is the story of the rise and fall, over a twenty‐year period, of one of the worlds largest mining operations. It was inspired by recent rumblings over an embryonic gold mining project in Greenland, earlier reported in these pages (Brooks, 1990) coupled with my own experience in the South Pacific region where I came frequently as a guest of Bougainville Copper Ltd. During these early stages of the Greenland project I became convinced that here was a potential for a repetition of the Bougainville saga. There are many striking similarities, although these are not the subject of this note. Rather, the intention is to increase awareness of Bougainville, which was a great success, turned sour. If nothing more comes out of it, perhaps we can learn to avoid repetition some time and some place in the future. Forwarned is forarmed.