The Pegunungan Bintang Regency area contains gold, copper and silver deposits. This district, which is located in the Papua Pegunungan Province, West Papua, Indonesia, is part of the ridge of the Jayawijaya Mountains as a result of the shift between the Australian plate and the Pacific plate.

According to Ir NA Maidepa, M App Sc, former Head of the Papua Mining and Energy Service, Papua New Guinea was formed millions of years ago, as a result of the collision of the Australian continental plate which was moving northward with the crust of the Pacific plate which was moving westward.

There is a breakthrough of igneous rock with a medium composition into the sedimentary rock above it, which then forms metallic mineralization associated with silver and gold. The concentration of metallic minerals is estimated to occur in the Central Mountains of Papua or called the Jayawijaya Mountains.

This mountain ridge stretches from Papua New Guinea to the Republic of Indonesia, namely the Pegunungan Bintang, Jayawijaya, Puncak Jaya, Paniai, Sarmi and parts of Jayapura. The Pegunungan Bintang are believed to have the largest gold, copper, nickel and coal deposits apart from Tembagapura.

Papua’s tectonic position is on the Pacific Rim, in the form of a ring of volcanoes which provides the potential for large mineral deposits. Along the route from South America, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, to New Zealand, many world-class gold deposits have been discovered. This position is very beneficial for Papua Province, especially the back route to New Guinea Island.

According to Maidepa, in the Borme, Okbibab and Kiwirok Districts, Pegunungan Bintang Regency, Papua Pegunungan Province, there are indications of very strong gold content in the form of geochemical anomalies. The distribution of gold, copper and nickel potential is evenly distributed throughout the government area of Bintang Mountains Regency. Other natural resources (SDA) in this area have not yet been identified. The presence of researchers in this area requires very large funds.

“However, managing mineral resources in the Pegunungan Bintang Regency is like dreaming of building on a mountain of gold. It is very difficult and will never be realized. In the Tembagapura area, Mimika Regency, which is located on the coast and easy to reach, PT Freeport Indonesia (FI) “We have invested hundreds of trillions of rupiah. Moreover, to manage a mine like that in the Bintang Mountains which is very difficult to reach,” said Maidepa.

The Bintang Mountains is an area that has limited infrastructure and telecommunications. Limited access to land routes is an obstacle in itself in transportation and distribution. The difficulty of access to the Bintang Mountains and the inability to meet the needs of clothing, food and shelter means that the prices received by the community are very expensive in this area. Apart from that, its isolated location means there is no evacuation route when a natural disaster occurs.