PNG’s new plant prospects
When Australia-based development company Mayur Resources discovered 382Mt of high-grade limestone resources adjacent to the ocean just 25km from Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby in 2016, it was a moment of excitement. Since then, the company has been developing the Central Cement & Lime Manufacturing facility at Port Kido and, despite COVID-19 impacts, advances are being made and the prospects are promising. By Mayur Resources, Australia.
Mayur Resource’s Central Cement and Lime (CCL) project is a vertically integrated manufacturing facility that has the potential to meet 100 per cent of Papua New Guinea’s (PNG’s) cement, clinker and quicklime requirements, with additional exports into Australasia, thereby displacing Asian imports into the region.
Located on the coast, 25km north of the national capital, Port Moresby, and 7km from ExxonMobil’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in PNG, the project’s co-located quarry, plant site and deep draft wharf will enable very low operating costs while providing direct access to both seaborne domestic and export markets such as Australia and other South Pacific nations.
In August 2020 the PNG government awarded Mayur an unprecedented 20-year mining lease for the project and the company has recommenced (post-COVID) discussions with a shortlist of large-scale international strategic investors looking for a stake in the cement phase of the project.