Five senior national employees who are currently part of the Porgera mine Care and Maintenance (C&M) Leadership team attained certificates of competency in their respective roles.
These employees are:
- Ezekiel Nori – Superintendent (Probationary) Open Pit Mining,
- Teddy Ulopo – Senior Mine Engineer
- Deryck Akis- Alternate Manager Processing,
- Ian Kaisom – Superintendent Fixed Plant Maintenance
- Adam Joseph – Underground Mine Engineer
All five attained respective Certificates of Competency (Metalliferous Mine Manager (MMM), Mine Manager Works (MMW), Mine Surveyor (MS) issued by the Mineral Resource Authority (MRA) after sitting for and successfully passing their respective examinations.
They were congratulated by PJV’s Acting Executive Managing Director, David Lilley and presented with their certificates during a Head’s of Department meeting on Tuesday (March 23).
“It is really important and critical for us at this stage of where we’re at. It means for us now, we are really well covered for having qualified and certified people on this site at all times to meet the requirements of the MRA. A team of all nationals willing to take on this responsibility.
PJV’s Acting EMD, David Lilley said this now means PJV is well covered for having qualified and certified people who meet MRA’s requirements on their exploration site and commended the five Papua New Guinean’s for taking on this responsibility.
“Basically when we talk about these roles, it’s about keeping the site but more importantly the people safe and protecting the assets. It is not a purely technical exercise. It’s really focused on making sure that all the right safety processes are involved so no harm comes to anybody and we protect the ore body and assets,” Lilley said.
The process toward attaining the various mine manager certifications began in March 2020 just after the suspension of the Porgera mine operations.
Superintendent Project with Mine Technical Site Projects, Jackie Koglkia, who attained a registered mine managers certificate in 2017, facilitated the process for the group with the support of the site Safety Department and the backing of General Manager Operations, Tim Cribb who is also a registered mine manager ticket holder.
Nominations and candidate endorsement for the respective MRA examinations for Certificate of Competency can only be made by a registered mine manager.
“Obviously after the mine suspension and Covid-19 restrictions, it became apparent there was need for sufficient coverage on site as this is a part of the operational requirement to have a certified manager’s ticket holder on site at any time, as required by the Mining Act.
“I therefor nominated and with the backing of the PJV management, supported the candidates through the process toward attaining their certificates.
“Having a ticket is one thing but sitting in that role, making those critical safety decisions is the key part,” Jackie said.
The examination components both written and oral are framed to examine the candidate’s general understanding of the relevant statutory role and legislative provisions, as well as managerial capabilities and skills through responses to certain practical field situations and circumstances by the MRA Board of Examiners.
Deryck on behalf of the certificate recipients acknowledged Jackie and the PJV management for recognising and facilitating the need for them to sit the examinations as an operational requirement.
Ezekiel also expressed his gratitude to the company in ensuring that they were able to get the mine managers’ certification.
Source: PJV Media
