Monograph Abstracts

Dilemmas of Development: The Social and Economic Impact of the Porgera Gold Mine, 1989-1994.

Abstract

The Porgera gold mine in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea is technically one of the most sophisticated and successful mines of recent times. In its second year of operations (1992) it was the third largest gold producing mine in the world. Socially, though, the mine has brought a range of massive changes for the local Ipili community - both positive and negative. Dilemmas of Development is a record of a series of studies of the social and economic effects of the Porgera mine. Commissioned by the Porgera Joint Venture (PJV). The principal authors are Susanne Bonnell and Glenn Banks. Two of the chapters were commissioned from Aletta Biersack and John Burton, who have studied the social impact of the mine, and were asked to provide their own comments on the design, management and output of the Porgera Social Monitoring Programme. This book provides a snapshot of the huge dislocations and transformations that the community experiences as mining operations were established at Porgera.

Contents

1. Introduction, Colin Filer
2. Social Change in the Porgera Valley, Susanne Bonnell
3. The Economic Impact of the Mine, Glenn Banks
4. The Landowner Relocation Programme, Susanne Bonnell
5. Gardens and Wantoks, Glenn Banks
6. The Next Round of Relocation, Glenn Banks
7. Business as Unusual, Glenn Banks
8. Porgera - Whence and Whither?, Aletta Biersack
9. Evidence of the 'New Competencies'?, John Burton