PanAust: Adapting the VPSHR to Myanmar

Following on from the recommendations of the Scoping Report and the decision of the 18 May Myanmar Steering Committee of the VPSHR, two half-day awareness-raising workshops about the VPSHR and how they could be useful for Myanmar were held in Naypyidaw on 27 November and Yangon on 29 November.

Read more: https://www.myanmar-responsiblebusiness.org/dialogues/voluntary-principles/vpshr-workshops.html

1. PanAust:Adapting
the VPSHR to
Myanmar

2. PanAust Limited
Phu Kham
Copper-Gold
Operation
Ban Houayxai
Gold-Silver
Operation
Brisbane
Office
PanAust’s producing
assets are the Phu
Kham
Copper-Gold Operation
and the Ban Houayxai
Gold-Silver Operation.
Both are located in the
Company’s 2,600 square
kilometre Phu Bia
Contract Area in Laos.
PanAust acquired a
majority interest in
the Frieda River
Copper-Gold
Project in PNG in
August, 2014.
Frieda River Copper-
Gold Project
PanAust is an Australian-headquartered copper and
gold producer, owned by Guangdong Rising Assets
Management (GRAM), with producing assets in Laos
and a portfolio of organic growth projects in Laos,
Papua New Guinea (PNG), Myanmar and Chile.
GRAM
Exploration Licenses
In Myanmar, PanAust holds an 80 per cent interest in
Wuntho Resources Company Limited (WRCL) and has
established a joint venture with Myanmar Energy
Resources Group International Company Limited (MERG),
a Myanmar-based company with holds the remaining 20
per cent of WRCL.

4. Laos
•Emerging communist nation
•Entered into a Special Military Zone
•Strong stakeholder relations, economic
contribution, and community development
programs lay the basis for a favourable security
setting
•VP’s member 2013
–Informs our regular risk assessments and action plans
–works closely with its public and private security providers
through formal agreements and outreach programs
–First Response Security Protocols: avoid and minimise
conflict; de-escalate
•PanAustis one of the smallest member
companies in the Initiative and one of the first
Australian mining companies to join.

5. Transitioning to Myanmar:
Defining the Problem Sets
•Government/Community Support: No need for
security in the first place
•Focus on Baseline Data Gathering
•Interactions with Artisinaland
Small Scale Mining
•A Human Rights Issue?
•Who gets to be ‘local’?
•Policy Considerations
•Evaluating the Need for Security
•What is the threat?
•The Need for Training