PNG hands over mine ownership to Bougainville
The transfer includes ownership of Panguna Mine, the massive gold and copper mine that was at the centre of a decade-long civil war.
Despite lying dilapidated for the past three decades, deposits beneath the mine are valued at $60 billion.
Under the transfer, 53 million dollars worth of shares go to Bougainville to give the government a 73 per cent holding, with the remaining shares in the hands of investors.
Gordon Peake, a former advisor to the Autonomous Bougainville Government and author of Unsung Land, Aspiring Nation, said it's questionable if the handover showed Papua New Guinea's commitment to Bougainville's independence path.
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