In June 1996, Nord Resources Pacific (Nord) decided to work
towards obtaining all necessary approvals from the government
of PNG for a mine on Simberi Island in the Tabar Island Group,
New Ireland Province. On the 9th of September 1996, Nord submitted a Proposal for
Development and an application for a Mining Lease to mine the
oxide gold deposits on Simberi Island. The Mining Lease was
granted on the 3rd of December 1996 in a signing ceremony on
Simberi Island. This was achieved in the extremely short time
frame of less than 3 months and this paper attempts to explain
the processes which made it possible.