A proposed multi-million dollar copper project in Fiji’s interior is set to withdraw next month after more than a decade of organised opposition from landowners, the Namosi Provincial Council has been told. Namosi Joint Venture (NJV) informed the council it intends to leave the province in June, bringing to a close prolonged protests and legal and political tussles over exploration in the Namosi hills on Viti Levu.
Landowners in Namosi had opposed NJV’s bid for a special prospecting licence that would have allowed the company to resume or extend exploratory work. That resistance — sustained for more than ten years — focused on environmental and community risks, and came despite past efforts by the Bainimarama government to use police and military units during parts of the dispute, according to landowner accounts and local reports. The decision by NJV to pull out represents the latest development in a long-running local campaign to stop large-scale mining in the area.
The project was led by Newmont Corporation in partnership with Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials Corporation and Nittetsu Mining Company. The consortium had proposed what was described as the largest open-cut mine in the Pacific, targeting copper resources in the interior of Fiji’s largest island. The plan raised alarm among villagers and environmental advocates over the proposed storage and management of mine tailings; studies cited by opponents warned that a tailings spill could reach at least three major waterways and ultimately the sea, threatening downstream communities and marine ecosystems.
The withdrawal will also have immediate financial consequences for customary landowning units. Lease payments that had been made to several mataqali — previously running into “hundreds of thousands of dollars” — are set to cease once NJV departs. For some families and villages these payments had been a contentious and divisive aspect of the project, highlighting tensions between short-term economic incentives and long-term environmental and social concerns.
In anticipation of the mine’s exit, many landowners say they have started to develop alternative income streams. Communities around Namosi report plans and early moves to build village-based eco-tourism accommodations and activities aimed at leveraging the province’s forests, rivers and cultural assets rather than extractive development. Those initiatives are presented by supporters as a way to secure livelihoods while preserving local environments and customary land tenure.
The NJV announcement is likely to reframe national discussions about mining on customary land. Calls for reform of Fiji’s colonial-era mining laws have intensified in recent months, with human rights and community leaders urging a more inclusive and updated regulatory approach. The Namosi outcome could strengthen arguments for greater safeguards, clearer consent mechanisms and environmental protections in any future mineral development proposals.
Namosi landowners and provincial leaders are now preparing to manage the immediate economic shifts and pursue the eco-tourism projects they say will provide long-term benefits. NJV’s formal exit, scheduled for June, marks a significant turning point in a decade-long confrontation between local communities and multinational mining interests in Fiji.