Located at the head of the Porgera Valley, The mine is situated in the rain forest covered highlands at an altitude of 2,200 to 2,700 m, in a region of high rainfall, landslides, and frequent earthquakes.

Its internal investigations have revealed that killings, brutal gang rapes, and beatings have been carried out by mine security personnel.

[7] Ore was processed in a mainly conventional plant, utilising several SAG and Ball mills, four Autoclaves, floatation cells and CIP / CIL.

The mine has an extensive training and education program, offering diverse traineeships and apprenticeships to locals[citation needed].

[4] Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada spoke about how mountains of dumped tailings blocked passage between communities and polluted rivers.

The suspension lasted for ten days, during which various local landowner clans, PNG government representatives, and PJV mine management eventually agreed on how best to move on.

[16][17] In 2009 rising insecurity around the mine led the government of Papua New Guinea to deploy several squads of mobile policemen to Porgera.

[18] Human Rights Watch investigated and documented reports of abuse, including brutal gang rapes and beatings, carried out by security personnel at the mine.

[13] After having denied previous claims of crimes committed at the mine, Barrick Gold launched an internal investigation which confirmed the findings.

[13] In 2022 Canadaland reported hundreds of rapes undertaken by employed security contractors, and starting in 2003 or 2004 a policy of using sexual violence as a means to deter people from salvaging for gold on around the mine.

[4] Canadaland quoted Akali Tange's 2005 report The Shooting Fields of Porgera Joint Venture which documents allegations of murder of local residents by mine security contractors.

The increase in sediment loading is hard to quantify but is generally thought to be in the range of 4 to 6 million tonnes per year.

The mercury is 'fixed' in a compound state by which it is thought will not ultimately enter the food chain, but no conclusive research has been performed.

In January 2009, Norway's finance ministry announced that the Government Pension Fund of Norway excluded Barrick Gold from its investments due to the “severe environmental damage” caused by the Porgera Gold Mine,[21] stating that “the company’s riverine disposal practice is in breach of international norms [and] the company’s assertions that its operations do not cause long-term and irreversible environmental damage carry little credibility [and that there is] reason to believe that the company’s unacceptable practice will continue in the future.”[22] The local body, which was established to represent the landowners around the mine, the Porgera Landowners Association (PLOA), is funded by a percentage of royalties from the mine, receiving $1.4 million in 2009.