Financial Reporting in the Mining Sector: The Case for Landowner Reports in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea, richly endowed with natural resources, has a unique land tenure system which imposes on mining companies the threat of land compensation payments. A celebrated example of the consequence of the demand for land compensation is the closure of the Panguna copper mine operated by Bougainville Copper Ltd. This paper argues that the land compensation problem might be imputed to inadequate communication between landowners and mining companies. It suggests that accounting, as the main source of business information, should develop a communication process for the benefit of landowners as residual stakeholders. Landowner reporting, an extension of the financial reporting regime in PNG, is envisaged as a special-purpose financial report addressed to landowners and highlighting their interests as residual stakeholders.