SMI-JKMRC Seminar: Developing a Mega Project such as Frieda River

Cowie, General Manager – Technical Services, PanAust Limited

The Frieda River Copper-Gold Project is located in the northern foothills of the Papua New Guinea Highlands, in Sandaun Province, with key infrastructure and transport corridors located in East Sepik Province. Frieda River is one of the largest undeveloped copper and gold resources in the world, and offers PanAust the potential to develop a world-class, long-life operation. Frieda River’s remote location and lack of infrastructure, and the capital investment required to unlock the value of the deposit, have historically limited the Project’s viability. PanAust has identified a number of alternative valuations of Frieda River that underline the Project’s potential to be of national significance to Papua New Guinea; a nation-building opportunity poised to deliver positive socio-economic impacts at both a national and provincial level.

Bio

Scott is responsible for technical support for the Frieda River studies (in PNG) and PanAust’s mining operations (in Laos), including : progressing concepts to feasibility studies, continual operational improvement programs, mine closure planning, tailings storage facility stewardship, environmental impact assessments, and life of mine planning. He is a mining engineer with 15 years’ experience in mine engineering, study management and environmental permitting in both operational and consulting engineering roles. Prior to joining PanAust, Scott worked with a number of publicly listed companies including Tetra Tech, Glencore, Xstrata and MIM in a number of countries including Australia, Canada, Turkey and the United Kingdom on a range of greenfield and brownfield project developments. Scott commenced employment with PanAust in January 2015.