The Port Moresby Stock Exchange will lose a major member next week, with the de-listing of New Britain Palm Oil (NBPOL). Meanwhile, another listed stock, Indochine Mining, has gone into voluntary administration.

The de-listing of New Britain Palm Oil follows its takeover by Sime Darby Plantation, which de-listed NBPOL from the London Stock Exchange last week.

Malaysian-based Sime Darby Plantation paid US$1.74 billion (K4.23 billion) for the company.

Under PNG’s Takeovers Code, shareholders have to sell their shares to Sime Darby Plantation at K28.79 per share, or 7.15 UK pounds. A deadline of 14 April has been set for NBPOL shareholders to register for the buyout.

Creditors meeting for Indochine

Meanwhile, Perth-based gold and silver Indochine Mining has gone into voluntary administration, after failing to obtain funding for its Mount Kare gold project in Enga Province.

Administrators Ferrier Hodgson say they will work with Indochine’s directors to review the company’s operations and financial position, adding that company secretary Kevin Hart has resigned and Ashok Jairath will act in that position.

A meeting of creditors will be held on Friday, 10 April in Perth, according to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

The company had been seeking funding of up to A$20 million produce up to 200,000 ounces of gold a year at the site from 2015. In February 2015, it raised AUD$500,000 in a capital raising and granted 26,396,191 shares to its creditors in lieu of cash.

Indochine has stated that its high-grade, low-cost Mount Kare project contains 1.8 million ounces of gold and 20 million ounces of silver.

The project has had a chequered past, however. It was initially the subject of a chaotic gold rush in 1988–1989, and was then abandoned by then-CRA (now Rio Tinto). The project has changed hands a number of times since, before being acquired by Indochine, through its subsidiary Summit Development Ltd, in 2011 .