Harmony, chaired by billionaire businessperson Patrice Motsepe, is confident that its pursuit of getting a permit in Papua New Guinea for the Wafi–Golpu will yield positive results as the mining house ramps up its strategy to transition into a gold-copper producer.
The Wafi-Golpu is a 50/50 joint venture between Harmony and Australian mining house Newcrest, which is being bought by American mining behemoth Newmont.
Harmony, worth R56.2-billion on the JSE, is South Africa’s largest gold mining company by volume.
However, the company has been over the years refining its strategy to de-risk its exposure from gold and diversify its products to include copper.
It bought Eva Copper Project in the mining district of Queensland, Australia, for $230-million last year.
The company has now turned its focus to getting a permit for the Wafi-Golpu project, which has been delayed for several years.
Motsepe, in a letter to shareholders this week, said the company was determined to forge ahead with the potentially lucrative project.
“Our CEO, Peter Steenkamp, and I met with the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, in July 2023 to continue discussions on permitting the Wafi-Golpu Project. We are grateful to the prime minister and the government of Papua New Guinea for their ongoing support and for signing the Wafi-Golpu Framework Memorandum of Understanding in April of this year,” he wrote.
Motsepe said Harmony was committed to proceeding with the project, subject to the finalisation of the permitting process and approvals by the Harmony and Newmont boards.
The granting of a licence for Wafi-Golpu has been stalled since 2019, first by the change of government in the Pacific island nation that year and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The project is located approximately 65km southwest of Lae, the second largest city in Papua New Guinea.
Harmony CEO Peter Steenkamp in his own letter to shareholders said the Eva Copper and Wafi-Golpu projects would transform Harmony into a global gold-copper producer once operational.
“As South Africa’s largest gold producer by volume, we offer geared exposure to gold and early entry into two prospective copper projects which will transform Harmony into a low-cost global gold-copper producer in the long term,” said Steenkamp.
