PanAust Limited is one of the International Copper Association Australia’s most geographically diverse members – an Australian-incorporated copper and gold producer whose flagship mine in Laos has been running for close to two decades, and whose next major project, Frieda River in Papua New Guinea, ranks among the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the world. From its Brisbane headquarters, PanAust provides strategy, technical and sustainability leadership across a business that now spans Laos, Papua New Guinea and Chile.

A history built on patient exploration

PanAust’s story began in 2001, when the company signed an agreement to acquire the Phu Bia Contract Area in Laos. Years of drilling followed, culminating in a positive feasibility study for the Phu Kham copper-gold deposit and construction of the Phu Kham Copper-Gold Operation, completed ahead of schedule and within its US$241 million budget in 2008. Commercial production began that same year, and by 2009 – its first full year of operation – Phu Kham was producing more than 54,000 tonnes of copper.

Growth continued through the following decade. PanAust listed on the ASX 200 in 2007, commissioned the Ban Houayxai Gold-Silver Operation in 2012, and upgraded Phu Kham’s processing capacity by a third that same year. In 2014, the company acquired an interest in the Frieda River Project in Papua New Guinea from Glencore, laying the foundation for its next phase of growth. In 2015, Guangdong Rising Assets Management Co. Ltd completed a takeover of PanAust, which was delisted from the ASX and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Guangdong Rising H.K. (Holding) Limited. PanAust increased its Frieda River interest to 100 per cent in 2019, and in 2023 marked the 10th anniversary of Ban Houayxai – a decade, the company says, of strong beginnings and enduring community partnerships.

Today’s operations

PanAust’s producing assets, Phu Kham and Ban Houayxai, sit within its 1,260-square-kilometre Phu Bia Contract Area roughly 140 kilometres north of Vientiane, and are operated through Phu Bia Mining Limited, 90 per cent owned by PanAust, with the Government of Laos holding the remaining 10 per cent. Phu Kham, an open-pit mine feeding a conventional milling and flotation circuit, remains the company’s flagship, producing a copper and precious-metals concentrate trucked to the Sriracha port in Thailand for export to customer smelters. Ban Houayxai adds gold-silver doré production from the same contract area. Together the two operations, and PanAust’s supporting logistics network, underpin a company with close to 3,700 employees, with a strong commitment to workforce localisation and diversity.

Frieda River: the next chapter

PanAust’s most significant growth prospect is the Frieda River Project in PNG’s Sepik region, held through its subsidiary Frieda River Limited. The project centres on the Horse-Ivaal-Trukai-Ekwai-Koki (HITEK) porphyry deposit, estimated to contain around 12 million tonnes of copper and 19 million ounces of gold – one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold resources. The proposal integrates four elements: the copper-gold mine itself, a hydroelectric project capable of generating up to 490 megawatts, a regional power grid, and shared-use transport infrastructure for the Sepik provinces.

The project has spent over a decade in exploration and permitting, with PanAust investing more than US$200 million in Frieda River since 2014. An Environmental Impact Statement, incorporating ten years of environmental, social and cultural heritage baseline data, was lodged with PNG’s Conservation and Environment Protection Authority in 2018. Frieda River Limited has continued to work through environmental permitting and Special Mining Lease approval with PNG authorities and landowner communities, with PanAust targeting detailed design and engineering by 2028, construction from 2029, and first ore in 2035 – a timeline reflecting both the scale of the integrated development and PNG’s capacity to advance several major resource projects at once.

Latest news

Recent announcements reflect PanAust’s dual focus on governance and community impact. In mid-2026, the company released its sixth Modern Slavery Statement, reaffirming its supply-chain due diligence commitments. Frieda River Limited’s Project Director has also publicly clarified that the proposed development will involve no riverine disposal of tailings, addressing a key community and environmental concern raised during consultation. In PNG, landowner representatives continue to press government and the Company to advance the project toward full development, underlining the high local expectations riding on Frieda River’s eventual approval.

Sustainability at the core

PanAust measures its environmental and social performance against the Equator Principles and the International Finance Corporation’s sustainability framework, supported by an enterprise-wide risk management process and regular independent audits and transparently reports its sustainability performance through its annual Business Review and Sustainability Report, the eighteenth of which was published in 2025. The company is an associate member of the Minerals Council of Australia, aligns with International Council on Mining and Metals Mining Principles, and is a signatory to the International Cyanide Management Code, reflected in the design of the Ban Houayxai process plant and associated logistics processes. At Frieda River, the proposed hydroelectric scheme is central to PanAust’s ambition to build what it describes as a world-leading, low-carbon mine, feeding directly into the clean-energy transition that copper itself enables.

People at the centre

Behind PanAust’s production figures are long-running community partnerships. Since 2012, the company’s partnership with Interplast Australia and New Zealand has brought volunteer surgical teams to Laos and PNG; a 2024 mission to Boram Hospital in East Sepik performed 17 surgeries, ran 50 consultations, and trained 18 local surgeons, nurses and support staff. In 2025, Frieda River Limited donated specialised microsurgical equipment to Port Moresby General Hospital’s Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Unit, extending that partnership’s reach into cleft-palate and nerve-repair procedures that restore mobility, speech and confidence to children and adults alike. In Laos, Phu Bia Mining’s vaccination program achieved 96 per cent uptake among employees and contractors during the COVID-19 pandemic, while ongoing apprenticeship and localisation programs continue to build a skilled, multicultural workforce across Asia and the Pacific.

A long-standing member of the copper family

As a member of the International Copper Association Australia, PanAust brings a distinctly Asia-Pacific perspective to the copper industry’s shared work on sustainable development and responsible supply chains. From a mature, community-embedded operation in Laos to a landmark project taking shape in Papua New Guinea’s Sepik region, PanAust’s next decade looks set to be as consequential as its first.