Villagers in the remote mountains bordering the mine are complaining of official inaction in reviewing a private memorandum of agreement (MOA) reached with the Western Province government in 1991 spelling out a benefits programme.

"We are giving the government until February 15 to come back to us, if not we will close the mine," landowner leader Porok Pitalok told reporters. Pty Co Ltd, issued a statement saying it was not party to the memorandum and said the agreement provided for landowners to refrain from disrupting operations at the mine.

The MOA provides for a review within five years of the signing, the company said.

OTML urges the state and the landowners to meet together cooperatively to review the MOA, Ok Tedi Mining said.

"Undue delay by the state or threats by the landownersto shut down the Ok Tedi mine are contrary to the MOA," the company said.

The company warned that a forcible closure of the mine was illegal and that employees living in the area would lose wages if operations were stopped.

A BHP spokesman said the dispute was not with the mining company and no additional security measures were planned to protect the mine.

Two people were killed in 1996 at the majority foreign-owned Porgera gold mine during riots by local people dissatisfied with a compensation programme. In 1989, the Anglo-Australian-run Panguna copper mine on the secessionist island of Bougainville was overrun by and has remained closed ever since.

Low copper prices and a prolonged drought that halted most operations at Ok Tedi between August 1997 and April 1998 led to the lay off of 172 workers at the mine last July.

The mine annually produces 600,000 tonnes of copper concentrate, which are then smelted and refined into about 210,000 tonnes of copper.

Canada's Inmet Mining Corp holds a 17.4 percent stake in the mine and the Papua New Guinea government holds the remaining 30 percent.