To the BCL posters walking around here like the 3 blind monkeys...

To the BCL posters walking around here like the 3 blind monkeys -

This from the Bougainville Mining Act 2015 -

(Clause) 97   Application for exploration licence

(2) An application for the grant of an exploration licence must not be accepted or
approved if —
   (a) the applicant has previously held an exploration licence; and
   (b) the area of the previous exploration licence is wholly or partly within the
area to which the application relates; and
   (c) the application was submitted within 2 years after the date on which the
previous exploration licence was cancelled.

And the Finance Minister said -
Bougainville landowners own all the resources on their land and the Bougainville government only facilitates resource development, says Bougainville Finance Minister Robin Wilson, pictured.
“Unlike the rest of Papua New Guinea, landowners in Bougainville have the power to allow or disallow exploration and extraction of minerals on their land,” he said.

BCL cannot re-apply for EL-1 for 2 (two) years & the ABG cannot change that without re-writing the Mining Act, regardless of how much they own.

RTG may or may not be involved in any re-opening of Panguna, that is open to discussion, but one thing is sure, BCL can't even do any exploration, let alone re-open any mine, before 2020. End of story.

Can we please put that to bed.