errr.... not any more..wonder who will grab the ground they're...

errr.... not any more..
wonder who will grab the ground they're leaving ?
it's not uncommon for bhp to drop unrealized ground.

BHP gives up on PNGThursday, 5 April 2012
Blair Price

BHP Billiton has quietly abandoned plans to resume mining in Papua New Guinea, citing health, safety, environment and community concerns.

The major miner had been trying to gain exploration licences covering about 40,000 square kilometres last year.

In mid-2011, PNG mining minister John Pundari revealed BHP was applying for the licences in Parliament – where he also took the opportunity to criticise the environmental damage caused by BHP’s past operation of the Ok Tedi mine in the country.

With the change of government in August, there was hope in industry circles that BHP’s ambitions would do better under new Mining Minister Byron Chan.

But after months of effort, BHP has pulled the plug on this endeavour.

The miner will not reveal all of the reasons behind this decision.

“I can tell you on the record that we are not exploring in PNG at this time,” a BHP spokesperson told PNGIndustryNews.net.

“We did consider exploration for copper in the country but elected not to for a number of reasons including our ability to deliver on our commitment of world-class health, safety, environment and community performance.

“We held preliminary discussions with the government about our licence applications, as we do in a number of places routinely around the world but elected to withdraw the applications before discussions advanced meaningfully.”

Back in September, the spokesperson told PNGIndustryNews.net that BHP was considering multiple individual exploration programs at greenfield sites in PNG.

There is industry concern over some of the other possible “reasons” behind BHP’s change of heart in PNG but the miner does not discuss confidential discussions with governments.

“What we are saying is that one of the reasons we decided not to proceed was our commitment to our high HSEC standards,” the spokesperson clarified.

While BHP’s reputation is not blemish-free in PNG, the country has typically welcomed mining and exploration investment, with the government introducing a competitive tax regime in 2003.