Government go ahead for Crater Mountain gold mining, Bank of South Pacific profits rise 16%, study to upgrade Ramu Highway signed. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

Crater Gold is about to become the next gold producer in PNG after being granted a mining licence for its Crater Mountain site, 50 km west of Goroka, in Eastern Highlands Province. The company anticipates extracting about 10,000 ounces of gold in the first 12 months of operation.

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Bank of South Pacific has announced a K122 million profit after tax for the third quarter, an increase of 16.3% for the same period last year. Chairman Kostas Constantinou reports the year-to-date profit is K384.5m, up 24.2% at the same period last year.

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Australia and the PNG Government have signed a K13 million agreement to scope and upgrade the Ramu Highway, a key transport link between Lae and Madang.

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Kina Asset Management Ltd (KAML) says it lost K1.1 million or 2.2% in the third quarter due to the volatility in the global markets and the Bank of PNG’s decision to peg the kina, which resulted in the valuation loss of its offshore assets.

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A ferry, partly owned by the Bougainville Autonomous Government and a replacement for the Rabaul Queen (which sank off the Lae coast nearly three years ago with the loss of 173 lives), has made its first voyage this week.

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Mining Minister Byron Chan is expected to present three key long-awaited mining policies in Parliament this month. The policies include sustainable mining development, involuntary resettlement and geothermal.

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Agriculture losing out, says Paul Barker. Credit; Hope

PNG’s agriculture sector is in decline because leaders are failing to support it, says the Institute of National Affairs director Paul Barker. ‘We are faced with very poorly developed infrastructure, weak market services, poor product quality and the rest is endless.’ He also says the government needs to reprioritise its spending in the 2015 Budget if it is to get any benefit from the LNG project.

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Economic researchers at the University of Queensland say agriculture will decline by 13% between 2014 and 2018, when the income from the LNG operation flows into PNG. They say agriculture and forestry have become less competitive because of the appreciation of the kina.

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Hela Province will soon have a full-time electricity supply, following an agreement between PNG Power Ltd and Barrick Gold. The Porgera gold miner will supply four megawatts of electricity to PPL.

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Canadian developer Nautilus Minerals has signed an agreement to charter a vessel for use at its deep sea copper-gold Solwara 1 Project in New Ireland Province. A contract to build the ship is expected to be signed at the end of November for delivery in 2017. Nautilus will then charter the boat for US$199,000 per day for five years.

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India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Chinese President, Xi Jinping.

This week’s visit to Fiji by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is aimed at countering China’s growing influence in the region, according to the Asian Editor of World Security Network, Balaji Chandramohan. Meanwhile, China’s president Xi Jinping becomes the first Chinese president to visit Fiji when he arrives next week to sign a series of bilateral agreements.

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Politicians and bureaucrats from Pacific nations who are even suspected of corruption could be denied entry in to Australia as part of new rules being looked at by the G20 summit in Brisbane.

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Finally, figures released by the Fiji’s Supervisor of Elections show that Papua New Guinea has given Fiji more money to pay for the September election than it cost to hold the polls. PNG contributed a reported US$18.5 million, while expenses amounted to US$12.2 million.