BY LORETTA B MANELE
Opposition Leader, Mathew Wale has voiced his support of Ministry of Mines goal of having a fully operational lab.
Speaking in parliament on Thursday, August 7, 2025, he acknowledged the Minister of Mines and the government for allocating a serious amount of money under the 2025 Supplementary Appropriation Bill 2025 for what he referred to as a “very important” facility.
“Mining is, of course, on the cusp of taking off. We hope there’s more to come,” Wale said.
The Member of Parliament for Aoke/Langalanga pointed out that there are of course issues that still need to be addressed such as long-term governance, economic rent, issues with taxation and so forth.
He emphasized that these are issues that they must address otherwise mining will be worse than logging.
Wale said with a lab, it will help let them know what is being mined and taken out of the country.
“Last time when we had that discussion, I think end of last year or early this year, about bauxite at Rennell, they talked about what other minerals were being taken out, but we had very little idea.
“And we knew for sure, none of them were paid for.”
Wale then asked in regards to the lab operating at optimum levels, how they would ascertain the volume that is going out, the percentage or grade that is going out in associated minerals and any claims by the exporters or whether it’s economical or not economical in terms of values of the associated minerals.
Minister for Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification, Derrick Manu’ari stressed that having a lab is very important and a critical project.
He explained that at the moment, they don’t have the full capability of running a lab and the country is currently using a lab in Australia at a cost of $26,000 per annum.
“We don’t really have the full capacity at the moment,” said Manu’ari.
He noted that having a lab that is fully functional will help us to determine the value or components of minerals and will also give us more control over those minerals.
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