Blog Entry

What Happened to Boi Nelson Nai at the Porgera Mine in Papua New Guinea?

Catherine Coumans

Ph.D. Research Coordinator and Asia-Pacific Program Coordinator

While visiting with community members at Barrick Gold’s Porgera Joint Venture (PJV) mine in Papua New Guinea in December 2017, MiningWatch was alerted to the death of Boi Nelson Nai, a 15 year old indigenous Ipili boy of the Mamai Kensa Clan from Panadaka village in the Special Mine Lease Area of the mine. Boi Nelson Nai was killed when he was run over by a PJV loader truck on the Anawe waste dump on October 3, 2017. The family is still seeking compensation for his death. MiningWatch requested information from Barrick Gold in a letter of February 5, 2018 regarding this incident, in particular regarding the remedy procedures the company is using to provide compensation to the family and what procedures the company has in place to ensure this will not happen again.

Letter to Barrick re: Boi Nelson Nai