MELBOURNE, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Miners in northwest Papua New Guinea reported some damage to infrastructure following a powerful magnitude 7.5 earthquake that hit on Monday, as projects in the resource-rich region assess the impact on their operations.
Barrick Gold Corp said a power station that supplies its Porgera gold mine had been damaged, while Ok Tedi Mining Ltd said a landslip had blocked a road and damaged pipelines to its copper and gold mine in the Star Mountains.
The PNG government said it had sent disaster assessment teams to the rugged Southern Highlands about 560 km (350 miles) northwest of the capital, Port Moresby, following the quake early on Monday and a series of aftershocks.
No casualties have been confirmed. “It’s premature to comment on what the impact to Porgera may be as those assessments remain underway. The mine does have limited back up power generation available on site,” Barrick Gold spokesman Andy Lloyd said in emailed comments.
Electricity from the power station is mainly used by the processing plant at Porgera. The mining fleet uses diesel. Porgera is co-owned by China’s Zijin Mining Group.
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