Panguna

Panguna is a town in the south-central interior of Bougainville Island, an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea. It was founded as a mining town by Bougainville Copper, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, to house miners from the nearby Panguna copper mine.

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Place details

Locality: Arawa
Region: Autonomous Region of Bougainville
Country: Papua Niugini
Population: 2,916
Timezone: Pacific/Bougainville

via OpenStreetMap · GeoNames

Key facts

Settlement.name: Panguna
Settlement.settlement_type: Town
Settlement.image_skyline: Panguna-Tailings.png
Settlement.image_caption: NASA Landsat image of Panguna, showing tailings runoff.
Settlement.pushpin_map: Papua New Guinea Bougainville Island#Papua New Guinea
Settlement.pushpin_map_caption: Location in Papua New Guinea
Settlement.subdivision_type: Country
Settlement.subdivision_type1: Autonomous region
Settlement.subdivision_type2: District
Settlement.subdivision_name2: Central Bougainville
Settlement.timezone: PGT
Settlement.utc_offset: +10

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

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P12749: Tamil

Sources (1)

wikidata.org

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~4 min read

Article

7 sections

Contents

Geography
History
Mining operations at Panguna
Armed conflict and mine closure
Post-conflict
See also
References

Beginning operations in 1972, the Panguna mine became one of the world's largest producers of copper and gold, contributing significantly to Papua New Guinea's economy. However, it was also met with fierce local opposition due to the environmental damage it caused and the inequitable distribution of profits to locals. Tensions culminated in a decade-long armed conflict, leading to the mine's closure in 1989.