Prime Minister (PM) James Marape has given his assurance to companies operating in the extractive industry that his government continues to support the mining sector. The PM when giving his keynote address at the official closing of the 2nd Geoscience, Exploration & Extraction 2024 (GEE 2024) Conference in Port Moresby city on Friday 09th August, said his government is doing this through reforms to mining policies and laws with aim to get in the right investors to do explorations and developments in the countrys mining sector. He then went on to reveal to the participants, international guests and heads of major mining companies that policies are being developed in the backroom of the government think- tank that would encourage transparency in securing the investments of true potential companies to develop the mining sector. We are looking at a transparent way of ensuring the best companies are participating in exploration as well as development of our resources, and also the mining department as well as MRA (Mineral Resources Authority), are asked to look at the possibility of putting our resources to auction. The auctioning of mineral resources is one of many approaches to assigning mineral rights to developers. Rights are sometimes assigned via informal processes such as first- come- first- serve, or other formal processes such as administrative processes. However, the advantage of an auction is that it is a competitive and transparent method of assigning rights, and maximizing revenues for developing countries. So, we are looking at this. The first- come- first- serve is the first law to go in as far as the reform we are pushing for next year (2025). He explained that this approach should put a stop to companies that do not have the capacity to do business in the resource sector from getting exploration and development licenses and environmental permits. Marape said PNG has 100million ounces of gold in the ground and only 20million ounces have been extracted. That is in addition to sufficient resources in copper and silver yet to be extracted. As such, it is vital that the right investors are engaged in exploration and development. We are seriously looking at the laws so to ensure we protect the environment in the context of resource harvest, but at the same time, we get better return on investments for our country, so as those who chose to invest in our country. PM Marape then went on to encourage more investors to invest in the mining sector, stating that PNG remains a free market economy that is governed by democracy and a very independent robust court system.