For nearly two decades, the name Mount Kasi has stirred equal parts hope and hesitation in Fiji’s mining circles.
Tucked deep within the thick forests of Wailevu in Cakaudrove, the once-active mine, now the focus of renewed exploration has re-emerged as a potential economic lifeline.
Yet, as with most resource ventures in Fiji, progress has been shaped as much by politics and landowner sentiment as by geology.
Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources Filimoni Vosarogo told Parliament that the Mount Kasi site remains a mineral exploration project, not a mining operation.
The licence, he said, “was awarded to Vatukoula Gold Mine Limited (VGML) after a very competitive tender process in December 2020.”
When he took office in 2022, Mr Vosarogo said he personally reviewed the tender process.
“It was my opinion and the opinion of those who were around me that everything that needed to be attended to had been attended to,” he told Parliament.
But for the past 16 months, the project has been stalled.
“The delay was due to some opposition that was evident on the ground with some members of the landowning unit, and they have been lobbying (it is common knowledge) for a company of their preference,” the Minister said.
From resistance to reconciliation
The landowners’ resistance, while politically and commercially charged, also carried a deeper history.
Mount Kasi has been mined before and with that came environmental scars still visible in the memories of locals.
“We have had some very significant incidences in Kasi where fish have died in the river at Yanawai,” Mr Vosarogo said.
“So, when we talk about mining in Kasi, there is a lot of negativity that comes with it, when we refer to history.”
That hesitation has been slowly easing.
Over the past months, ministry officials and landowning units have engaged in continuous dialogue, culminating in a traditional reconciliation ceremony at Dawara Village.
“The chiefs were present, the landowning unit was present, the Turaga ni Mataqali Naveitokaki was also present and we exchanged what is traditionally the approach that we usually take to make sure that we resolve conflicts,” he said.
The ceremony marked a symbolic truce and paved the way for VGML to finally begin work under its Special Prospecting Licence (SPL No. 1519), granted on June 20, 2024, for a period of three years.
“The acceptance heralds a historic moment of co-operation between the Government and the landowning unit in Kasi,” the minister told Parliament.
Exploration before extraction
For now, the focus remains squarely on exploration.
VGML has been engaging directly with the landowners to develop “the modality of co-operation” for the next phase.
Two groups of Yanawai villagers have already travelled to Vatukoula to observe mining operations firsthand.
“We have left it with the land-owning unit and the company to design between themselves what is the modality of co-operation that they want to enter into in the exploration phase,” Mr Vosarogo said.
The minister expressed optimism that the engagement signals “a blessing indeed to advance the prospectus in Mount Kasi” not only for resource extraction but for regional development.
Learning from the past
Mr Vosarogo said Fiji’s mining future must be built on lessons from existing operations.
“As far as Kasi is concerned, we are looking at learning off the back of experiences in Vatukoula as well as in Tuvatu,” he said.
The Tuvatu mine in Sabeto, operated by Lion One Metals, currently employs more than 450 local workers.
“They run an overhead of just about $6million a month, which means logistics, food supply, laundry and the support services that support the mining activity,” he said.
For Mount Kasi, the goal is to ensure that those same support services are developed locally rather than outsourced.
“We are looking at modality to be developed with the Kasi people, the local population of supplying that logistical support services … so that while the mining is happening, new employment is going to be created, new businesses are also going to be created,” the minister said.
Turning resources into livelihoods
Opposition MP Vijay Nath, who visited the site with the Natural Resources Committee, said he witnessed “huge possibility” in the area.
Quoting the Leader of the Opposition (Hon Inia Seruiratu), he told Parliament, “We Fijians are rich in resources but empty in pockets.”
Mr Vosarogo agreed.
“If we say to ourselves that we are resource-rich, at some point, that richness has got to translate into your bank account and that is something that we want to make sure is going to happen in Kasi,” he said.
To that end, the ministry is exploring ways for locals to participate directly in economic activities surrounding exploration and future mining operations.
These include farming to supply food for mine workers, transport services, and small-scale enterprises like laundry services.
“There are, of course, 460 people we will have to feed breakfast, lunch and dinner,” the minister said.
“Someone is going to have to provide for that, so that sort of service, we want to make sure that it is contained in-house, contained in and around the area and the villagers that would be able to support that operation in Kasi.”
He noted that even services like laundry could be managed locally.
“In Kasi, I would imagine it would be too far to be taken to Savusavu and brought back, so the creation of that service, just close to the mine, can be something that the Soqosoqo Vakamarama of Yanawai might be interested in looking at.”
Balancing growth and caution
The road ahead for Mount Kasi remains uncertain.
While optimism is high, the site’s history and environmental sensitivities demand caution.
Mining in Fiji has long been a balancing act between opportunity and oversight.
Mr Vosarogo said the Government was mindful of the community’s environmental concerns, noting that future exploration would “accommodate those concerns and those reservations by the landowning unit.”
Yet beneath the formalities of legal licences and parliamentary assurances lies the human element: the need for trust.
That trust, slowly rebuilt through talanoa and traditional reconciliation, may prove as critical to Mount Kasi’s success as any mineral assay.
For now, the project stands at the crossroads of promise and prudence.
If cooperation holds, the mineral-rich hills of Wailevu could one day host Fiji’s next major mining operation — one shaped by lessons of the past and guided by the aspirations of those who call Kasi home.
