Local gold buyer and businessman, Mr. Justin Parker, says Papua New Guinea is losing billions of kina each year to illegal gold trading, warning that the trade is directly taking food off the tables of ordinary families who depend on small-scale mining for survival.

Mr. Parker said while the weaker kina has helped boost gold exports by increasing foreign currency returns, the benefits are being drained away by illegal buyers and smugglers operating outside the formal system.

“Gold is one of PNG’s strongest exports. When the kina drops, overseas buyers pay more, and that should mean more money coming back into the country,” he said.

However, Mr. Parker said that income is not reaching small-scale miners in areas such as Wau and Bulolo, where alluvial gold mining supports entire communities.

“Unlike large mines, alluvial mining puts cash straight into people’s hands. That money goes to food, school fees, transport and small businesses through the wantok system,” he said.

He alleged that weak regulation of the alluvial gold sector has allowed illegal activity to flourish, with some foreign operators using gold to convert large amounts of undeclared cash into wealth overseas.

“That gold is bought from local miners, smuggled out of the country and never properly declared or taxed. The money never comes back to help our people,” Mr. Parker said.

He claimed more than K4 billion has been lost this year alone through illegal gold trading, describing gold as easy to hide, easy to move and difficult to track when controls are weak.

Mr. Parker said communities are paying the price.

“When that income is taken away, families suffer. Children, elders and local businesses miss out,” he said, adding that Wau and Bulolo alone could have earned more than K2 billion this year if illegal trading had been stopped.

He called on the government to fully reserve the alluvial gold industry for Papua New Guineans, from mining to buying, selling and exporting.

“Alluvial gold should be 100 per cent for Papua New Guineans. If the money stays here, it supports families, creates jobs and strengthens the kina,” he said.

Mr. Parker also urged authorities to tighten controls on gold buying and export licenses and said he is willing to help train Papua New Guineans to participate legally in the industry.