C.R.A. Seeks Lease For Bougainville

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31943, 21 March 1969, Page 14

C.R.A. Seeks Lease For Bougainville

(N.Z. Press Association

SYDNEY, March 20.

Conzlnc Riotino of Australia, Ltd, has taken another step towards mining its copper deposits on Bougainville, in PapuaNew Guinea.

The subsidiary, Bougainville Copper Pty, Ltd, formally applied on Tuesday for a special mining lease over about 10,000 acres of land at Panguna, where the deposits have been found. The company which has spent about sl6m proving the deposit is now liable for a

total expenditure of not less than s3om to build and install, within five years, facilities to enable it to mine ore from the lease, to concentrate the ore and to export the concentrates. The application is seen in Port Moresby as conclusive evidence that C.R.A. will go ahead with the Bougainville venture. MANAGEMENT ARM Longreach Oil, Ltd, and its associated companies, Hawkstone Minerals, Ltd, Longreach Metals, N.L., and AbroIhos Oil, N.L., have formed a new company, to manage the exploration and mining activities of the group, and to undertake a limited amount of consulting in mining and exploration management.

Longreach Group Management Pty, Ltd, the new company, is building up a professional mining and exploration staff, based on a head office in Sydney and a branch office in Perth, the group announced today. Longreach Metals has been granted an 800 square-mile special mining Tease in South Australia, immediately south of Radium Hill uranium mine. A detailed search will be carried out for uranium ores and other minerals.