It was all smiles for the members of the Nasomo Landowners Trust, as they received a total of $57,002.47 to be equitably distributed to 123 Trust members.
Minister for Lands Ashneel Sudhakar says this is the third payout of the fair share of gold and silver royalties for Nasomo Landowners Trust.
Sudhakar says payout is for the period from December 2018 to February 2019 where each member will receive $463.40.
He says this payout is aligned to regulation five of the Fair Share of Mineral Royalties Act 2018 which states that 80% of mineral royalties be given to landowning units and 20% of the royalty be retained by the State.
Sudhakar says the mineral ownership remains vested in the State but this government saw it fit as compared to previous governments to recognize the contribution of landowners that allow the use of their land to facilitate mineral development.
The Minister says pertinent to the Fair Share of Mineral Royalty Act 2018, the Nasomo Landowners Trust will periodically receive gold and silver royalty payouts as long as the Vatukoula Gold Mines remain in operation, which he confident will continue in years to come.
Sudhakar says the Vatukoula Gold Mines management also needs the full support of the people in securing the future of mining in Vatukoula.
He says the Vatukoula Gold Mines Limited, as holders of the Vatukoula mining leases continues to make significant capital investment to modernize mine infrastructure, improve underground working conditions, ensure cost-effective power generation and also improve gold recovery in its milling process.
Sudhakar says the Mine has plans to ramp up production and any increase in gold production will result in increased earnings for the mining company as well as the State, which will result in increased share of mineral royalties to the Nasomo Landowners Trust.
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