TSI, HONIARA: Solomon Islands Mining Company Limited (SIMCL), which also uses the name SNMCL, has commenced illegal mining at Kamaboe Camp in South Choiseul.
SIMCL is operated by Filipino businessman Johnny Sy, who transitioned from logging to mining with financial support from two Chinese investors.
SIMCL’s first mining project was the nickel mine within the Siruka tenement on the north coast of Choiseul.
SIMCL’s illegal mine at Kamaboe Camp sits far outside the Siruka tenement, in an area where no Land Acquisition, Development Consent or Mining Lease has been granted by Solomon Islands Government (SIG).
The illegal mine at Kamaboe Camp is on the south coast of Choiseul, near the mouth of the Tukuku River, at the southern end of Rob Roy Passage.
SIMCL has cleared a large area of the hillside above Kamaboe Camp and has commenced digging an open-pit mine.
Landowners who are opposed to the mine at Kamaboe Camp have stated that this is an emergency that requires immediate action.
They are demanding that SIG issue a Stop Work Notice to SIMCL immediately.
On the 4th of August and 22nd of September 2025, meetings about this issue were held between the Ministry of Environment and representatives of Kamaboe Tribe, Volakana Tribe and Vitukana Tribe. At these meetings, the Director of the Environment and Conservation Division, Joseph Hurutarau, clearly stated that SIMCL’s mining operation at Kamaboe Camp does not have Development Consent or a Mining Lease, confirming that mining at Kamaboe Camp is illegal.
A letter of complaint from Volakana Tribe, with an accompanying report detailing the exact location of SIMCL’s Kamaboe Camp mine, was submitted to the registrar at the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification (MMERE) on the 6th of August 2025.
These documents were addressed to the Director of Mines, Krista Tatapu.
Joseph Hurutarau at the Ministry of Environment also received Volakana Tribe’s letter of complaint and accompanying report on the 4th of August 2025.
It is understood that Joseph Hurutarau sent an electronic copy of the documents to the MMERE, and also to SIMCL, requesting an explanation for this unauthorised development.
Since Volakana Tribe submitted that complaint to officers at SIG, the mining company has rapidly progressed the mining project at Kamaboe Camp.
Volakana Tribe’s complaint follows a report by Transparency Solomon Islands, dated 15th of February 2025, which details SIMCL’s failures to comply with their Environmental Management Plan in the Siruka mining tenement.
This report was submitted to the MMERE and the Ministry of Environment in March 2025. The report provides evidence of widespread environmental damage to land, rivers and sea, and the complete failure of SIMCL to implement environmental protections that are required by the Ministry of Environment.
A key recommendation of the report was that SIMCL should not be allowed to commence mining in the Kamaboe Camp area.
The report stresses the importance of preventing the environmental destruction that has occurred at Siruka from occurring in South Choiseul and the Rob Roy Passage.
Hurutarau’s responded to the Transparency Solomon Islands report with a letter to SIMCL demanding compliance with their Environmental Management Plan, and he made a commitment to investigate the claims made in the report.
Unfortunately, Joseph Hurutarau’s efforts were frustrated by a reluctance of SIG to release funds for monitoring mine sites in Solomon Islands.
A delegation from the Ministry of Environment finally visited mine sites in Isabel and Choiseul in October 2025, but as yet, no report of the delegation’s findings has been made available to the public.
The Director of Mines, Krista Tatapu, did not respond to the report submitted by Transparency Solomon Islands in March 2025.
She also failed to respond to the complaint and report submitted by Volakana Tribe in August 2025. Multiple requests for information about SIMCL’s activities in Choiseul have been ignored by the Director of Mines.
The office of the Director of Mines lacks the transparency required to hold mining companies to account and serve the people of Solomon Islands.
Landowners and community members cannot understand how Johnny Sy’s company can open an illegal mine at Kamaboe Camp while officers of SIG do nothing to stop it.
Rumours of corruption swirl around the communities of South Choiseul, as local people wonder why their elected members of parliament and SIG officials will not take action against SIMCL.
At the heart of this issue is a landowner from Kamaboe Tribe who entered into an agreement with SIMCL to mine at Kamaboe Camp.
This landowner ignored the objections of other Kamaboe landowners, and allowed the project to proceed without seeking the consent of all neighbouring tribes.
At a ground breaking ceremony at Kamaboe Camp in November 2025, the landowner who agreed to the mine made a speech in which he stated that local tribes will not receive royalties from the mine. In his speech, the landowner asserted that instead of royalty payments, local people would get employment opportunities at the mine.
However, local workers at SIMCL’s Siruka mine report grim stories of manual labour, dangerous conditions, low pay, and unpaid wages.
The remarks at the ground breaking ceremony raise some uncomfortable questions for SIG.
Without Land Acquisition, Development Consent or a Mining Lease, does SIG have any mechanism to ensure that SIMCL will pay royalties to the Central Bank of Solomon Islands for minerals extracted from the Kamaboe Camp mine?
Does this illegal mine enable foreigners to export the mineral wealth of Solomon Islands without compensating the government of Solomon Islands?
It is heartbreaking for the people of Choiseul to witness mining take place without any environmental protection.
SIMCL’s record of environmental destruction means that marine resources in the Rob Roy Passage and surrounding islands will be severely damaged if the mine proceeds.
Local people from many tribes rely on fishing and seaweed farming, and they wonder how they will survive if the mining company destroys their livelihoods.
If SIG fails to issue a Stop Work Notice to SIMCL immediately, the resulting environmental disaster in South Choiseul will be similar to what has already happened in West Rennell.
Just like the mining disaster in West Rennell, landowners and Solomon Islands Government will receive nothing for allowing foreign miners to plunder our beautiful country.
There is still time to prevent this environmental disaster from unfolding.
Landowners in Choiseul call upon the ministries responsible for mining and the environment, along with the Member for Parliament for South Choiseul – Hon. Tozen Leokana, and the Minister for Mines – Hon. Derrick Rawcliff Manuari, to protect the environment and livelihoods of the people of Choiseul and the country of Solomon Islands.
