According to The National, Central province governor Kila Haoda has promised to deliver tangible community and regional benefits.

"The review of the MoA is the right way to take as people must see the benefit of their land and resources while serving the country in accommodating the Tolukuma mine on their land," he reportedly said.

Yulai Landowners Association chairman George Gusi told the newspaper that landowners had not properly benefited from the mine since it started 16 years ago.

Previous owner Emperor Mines sold Tolukuma to state-owned Petromin in 2008 amid speculation the isolated mine was drying up.

Last year PNGIndustryNews.net heard a rumour that Petromin aimed to sell a stake in the mine. More recently a different source said one party had even visited the mine before it was deemed to be too small to take on the operation.

While it is unclear how profitable or not Tolukuma is; further investment into completing an access road to Port Moresby, about 100km away, should lower its operating costs by freeing it from helicopter-dependency.

According to the Post-Courier in June, Petromin's Joshua Kalinoe said 10 million kina of government funding to complete this access road was part of the 2012 budget.