St Barbara Limited ('St Barbara' or the 'Company') (ASX: SBM) is pleased to announce that it has been informed by the Managing Director of the Mineral Resources Authority of Papua New Guinea (MRA) that the Mining Advisory Council (MAC) will be considering the application for the early renewal of the Simberi Mining Lease (ML) at its June 2025 monthly meeting.
The meeting, planned for the last week of June, is the final step before a recommendation is made to the Mining Minister for the renewal. As announced on 11 April 2025, the ML Warden Court hearing took place at Simberi Island on 8 April 2025 and was well supported with a large turnout of community members.
The hearing followed the MRA's acceptance and registration of Simberi's application for early renewal of the Simberi ML, announced in December 2024. The Company understands that all questions, arising from the MRA's review of the technical materials supporting the application, are now answered and the materials are ready for this next MAC meeting. St Barbara carried out extensive discussions with stakeholders regarding the submission of the early renewal application for the Simberi ML and in relation to the Company's proposal for an enhanced net profits-based royalty under a new Simberi Memorandum of Agreement.
St Barbara Managing Director and CEO Andrew Strelein said: 'The confirmation that the application for early renewal of the Simberi Mining Lease will be considered at the June meeting of the Mining Advisory Council is very encouraging. Although we were hoping to make it onto the May meeting agenda, we understand there has been a significant number of tenement applications before the Mineral Resources Authority which made this timing challenging. We appreciate the attention and priority given to our renewal application .' 'We continue to be very grateful for the support of our renewal submission from all directors of the Simberi Landowner Association, the New Ireland Provincial Government, the Sentral Niu Ailan Local Level Government and of the Namatanai District Development Authority.' 'The renewal of the Simberi Mining Lease is a key step towards unlocking the Sulphide Ore Reserves at Simberi and expanding gold production to over 200,000 ounces per annum.'
Contact:
David Cotterell
General Manager Business Development & Investor Relations
Email: info@stbarbara.com.au
Tel: +61 3 8660 1959
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