Over the past year Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) has substantially achieved its goal of shifting the investment focus from cash deposits in Papua New Guinea to equity investments. Approximately 80% of the company's liquid assets are now in Australian listed equities. In addition BCL has substantial investments in PNG companies, Lihir Gold Limited and Ramu Sugar Limited .

The decision to invest in equities was driven by the volatile nature of the PNG economy, particularly BCL's considerable exposure to any depreciation of the kina. This investment strategy has helped BCL take advantage of the stronger Australian dollar and the stronger Australian stock market.

The strategy to invest cash in equities has continued. This is considered the best option until the future of the Bougainville assets is finalised. The Government and Bougainville parties has been made aware of BCL's willingness to resolve matters relating to Bougainville .

BCL has a strategy of investing long-term in quality investment company stocks that in turn invest in the ASX top one or two hundred companies. They are expected to return regular dividends and have the potential for capital gains in line with ASX performance and protect shareholder value. These investment companies provide a good spread of investment and cost effective expertise in equities management.

BCL has been investigating a compulsory buyback of non-marketable parcels of shares. A large number of shareholders cannot sell their shares on market because they have insufficient shares to make up a marketable parcel. Furthermore, brokerage costs would exceed the value of many smallholdings. For BCL the cost of maintaining many smallholdings exceeds the market value of the shares. There is also an unsatisfactorily high number of shareholders BCL cannot find. This means any dividend due to these shareholders must be paid to the PNG Government as unclaimed money.