Ramu Nickel & Cobalt Mine in Madang Province has successfully commissioned 28 graduates into its Graduate Development Scheme (GDS) on 1st November 2025.
The 28 graduates were selected through an equal process among more than 2,000 applications for the 2025 GDS.
This year 10 of the graduates selected were from Madang, while the number of female graduates has increased to 10. The mine also took a new approach to select students from Don Bosco Technical University and four Papua New Guinean international students who graduated from overseas.
The mine, through its motto of being a “Mine to Grow Minds” for the country, has been a corner stone for a lot of programs aimed at developing the Human Resources of Papua New Guinea. This has been based on its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of training and development in the past since the construction of the mine in 2006 till achieving the full production design nameplate in 2012 and to the current smooth operation of the project.
Through these years, the mine has employed and trained numerous Papua New Guineans, including local residents from the project impact areas, which accounts for about 70% of PNG national employees. With the introduction of the GDS in 2024, the mine is now set to continue to recruit, train and develop young Papua New Guineans to be skilful and competent professionals to contribute to the nation building.
Ramu NiCo’s Deputy General Manager of HR Department Mr. Jeffers Heptol Teargun said the mine is now becoming an avenue for Papua New Guineans to work, train and gain vital knowledge that is vital for our country.
“One of our successful candidates from the first batch in 2024 was accepted to work overseas (Australia) and he was a fruit of our Graduate Development Program. We also have another 10 candidates from our first batch that were recommended by their supervisors for internal positions and are currently working permanently at our Mine and our Refinery sites,” the HR deputy general manager said.
This year, Ramu NiCo increased the total number to 28 candidates as the industry demand in the field of Mining Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemistry, Environmental Health, Information Communication Technology ( ICT ) demand continues to grow in the ever developing mining and resources industry of PNG.
Among the 28 graduates recruited, 3 graduates were from Divine Word University’s Madang campus, another 3 were from the University of PNG, one graduate was from the University of Natural Resources and Environment and the rest of the graduates were from the PNG University of Technology.
The 2025 Ramu NiCo GDS commissioning program was witnessed by representatives from Divine Word University’s Faculty of Environmental Health and the University’s Partnership Director, Ramu NiCo’s Vice President and other employees of Ramu NiCo.
Today, Ramu NiCo is and will always be an avenue for locals in Madang and Papua New Guinea to build their career pathways with the onsite globally used technology that will be a vital starting point for everyone who worked, trained and passed out of the country’s only Nickel and Cobalt Mine in Madang Province.
