PNG ups the ante in with BHP over Ok Tedi mine row PAPUA New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has warned that the government may not approve the extension of the mine life of the nation's biggest single taxpayer, Ok Tedi, unless BHP Billiton agrees to amend the terms of the copper-gold mine's ownership. Mr O'Neill told members of the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday that he was "not in a hurry" to grant an extension to the mine -- whose permits expire later this year -- even though it provides a quarter of the country's export receipts.