New technology may reduce internet charges, Vanuatu assesses cyclone damage and Newcrest buys Wamum gold project. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

Talks are underway to set up a new facility within two months aimed at reducing internet charges. NICTAs’ Economics and consumer affairs director Kila Gulo Vui says a PNG Internet Exchange Point (IXP) will improve local capacity. ‘Because of the current structure, email goes out of the country to Sydney, Australia or Hong Kong and comes back in and is charged,’ he says.

***

Cyclone damage in the capital, Port Vila. Credit; Reuters

Stores have begun re-opening in Vanuatu’s capital, Port Vila, after cyclone Pam devastated the archipelago last Friday. Westpac’s Greg Pawson told Business Advantage PNG his Port Vila branch opened for three hours on Monday so staff could assess how the cyclone had affected customers. He said many staff had lost their houses. Clean water has been restored in Port Vila. Food and shelter are the priorities, say aid agencies.

***

Meanwhile, roads in Port Vila have been cleared. Digicel says it has restored its network in the capital. PNG’s PM Peter O’Neill has pledged US$1.8 million in aid to Vanuatu and Tuvalu, where nearly half of the population has been displaced.

***

Australian gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd has signed a deal to acquire the Wamum gold project in Papua New Guinea from Barrick Gold Corp and Aurasian Minerals plc. According to Aurasian Minerals, Newcrest will pay US$750,000 for its 12.14% stake in the project. Under a condition that the deal with Aurasian goes ahead Newcrest will also acquire Barrick’s 87.86% interest for a yet to be disclosed amount.

***

Meanwhile, K92 Holdings International Ltd has completed the purchase of the Kainantu gold project in Papua New Guinea from Barrick Gold Corp for about US$62 million. The company says it is eager to work with locals to advance the project in the Eastern Highlands.

***

The recently passed Small–Medium Enterprises (SME) Corporation Act 2014 has been gazetted. A new SME Corporation will succeed the Small Business Development Corporation, the lead agency for the (SME) sector in Papua New Guinea.

***

Agriculture Minister, Tommy Tomscoll, says the government wants to increase robusta coffee production and move into the Eastern European market. He says he wants to negotiate an ‘excess agreement’ so more bags can enter Eastern Europe markets at a lower price. The Coffee Industry Cooperation has also begun programmes to replant arabica coffee trees in parts of the Highlands.

***

Johnson Tia, the founding director of the country’s largest health insurance company Pacific Assurance Group,  has called for companies, government departments and State Owned Enterprises to be responsible for health care.

***

State-owned enterprises, Post PNG and PNG DataCo Ltd, have announced they will work together to ensure PNG and its business community can access quality ICT services at affordable prices in the future.

***

Credit Corporation (PNG) group Chairman Garth McIlwain has announced a K82.50 million as the company’s core operating profit.

***

The Antelope 3 gas field. Courtesy: InterOil

InterOil Corp has recorded net profit after tax of US$298.8 million in 2014, an improvement on the US$40.4 million loss reported for 2013. The company says the increase in net profit was assisted by the sale of its share in PRL 15 in Papua New Guinea to Total SA and the sale of its refinery and downstream business to Puma Energy Ltd.

***

Crater Gold Mining says it will resume operations at its Crater Mountain site, following a relaxation of the cessation order by the country’s Mines Safety Inspectorate.

***

South Africa’s Harmony Gold says it has discovered gold and copper deposits at its Kili Teke exploration site in Southern Highlands.

***

Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill has told the Australia-PNG Business Council that facilities at Rabaul’s Tokua Airport will be upgraded to international standards, to cater for direct flights from Australia, China and Japan. Visitors coming through Tokua would get visas on arrival.

***

PNG Ports Corp (PNGPCL) has commissioned the building of a new cargo storage facility in Kavieng to relieve congestion. Chairman Nathaniel Poya says the project is part of wide ranging investments made by PNGCPL into port facilities across the country.

***

Stanley Resource Holding Ltd, the landowner company for the Stanley gas project, is questioning why the company’s K15 million in business development grants have not been released after an agreement three months ago.

***

Properties in the National Capital District may soon face higher rates and land taxes due to the recent updating of the NCD valuation roll.  Governor Powes Parkop said the commission had collected K680 million from rates and land taxes, but the district has been losing millions of kina due to the use of the outdated roll.

***

PNG’s population is growing with about 140,000 births every year, says women’s health technical adviser Dr Lahui Geita, who added it is like creating a new province annually.

***

PNG’s proposed Sovereign Wealth Fund will become a reality after May when Parliament is expected to pass a law governing proceeds from the PNG LNG and mineral projects, says Treasury Minister Patrick Pruaitch.

***

Disgruntled education service providers in National Capital District have asked the National Executive Council to review a decision on settlement claims worth millions of kina in contracting work during the past eight years.

***

Koitaki Rubber Plantation in Central Province.

The new PNG Rubber Board has been urged to promote rubber as an integrated and long-term agricultural crop. Agriculture Tommy Tomscoll says the board must focus on rubber as a long-term investment and consider planting cocoa and other crops under rubber trees.

***

Construction of a new K26 million fisheries market in Madang with a jetty, ice-making facilities, back up power, water supply, sanitation and waste area is expected to be completed in November, according to the National Fisheries Authority (NFA).

***

YWam Medical ships has purchased a medical and training ship which can operate 11 months of the year across southern region of PNG and the Huon Gulf, increasing YWAM MSA’s work by over 500%. YWAM MSA’s Managing Director, Ken Mulligan, says it will replace a 35-year old former fishing vessel, which has been operating for the last five years.

***

Parties to the Nauru Agreement meeting at Yap have decided that trials for tracking Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) will start on January 1, 2016.

***

Local mining at Gold Ridge

And finally, around 200 people in Solomon Islands have set up camps in the pits at the closed Gold Ridge mine on Guadalcanal and have taken over gold production at the site. ANU researcher, Matthew Allen, says the women say they are earning more money mining for themselves than they ever did when the mine was operating.