Most recruiters service PNG’s resources sector from a desk in Perth or Houston. We do it from Port Moresby.
Specialist recruitment, mobilisation and workforce solutions for mining, energy and resources — on the ground in PNG, connected to our Australian team, and ready for the projects defining the next decade.
Our expertise in Mining, Energy & Resources
PNG’s resources sector is one of the most significant in the Pacific — and one of the most demanding to staff. The projects that define it draw from the same finite pool of experienced talent, and the organisations that succeed are the ones with their workforce partner already in place.
We’ve recruited across PNG’s mines, energy projects and resource operations for 18 years — placing nationals and expatriates in technical, trades and leadership roles, from exploration through to operations. Because we’re physically in-country, we mobilise faster, navigate compliance on the ground, and know the people before the brief lands. That’s the difference between a partner in the market and a provider servicing it from another time zone.
Built on major mining projects.
From the design office in Australia to the mine site in PNG.
Peopleconnexion was built on mining. For nearly two decades we’ve recruited for the large Australian engineering consultancies that design the region’s resource projects — the firms behind the feasibility studies, process design and engineering that sit behind every mine and plant.
Much of the design and engineering for PNG’s mining and energy projects is still run out of Australia, by exactly those consultancies. We know them, we recruit for them, and we follow the work across the Coral Sea to the operations in-country. That’s a rare line of sight — from the Australian design office to the PNG mine site, with one team across the whole project.
From our 2026/27 PNG Salary Guide & Workforce Intelligence Report
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Papua LNG, Porgera and Ok Tedi anchor one of the region’s largest resource project pipelines — all drawing on the same finite talent pool.
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77% of PNG employers are growing headcount, even as the senior generation that delivered the PNG LNG era approaches retirement.
Across the project lifecycle
We recruit at every stage of a resources project — not just the easy ones.
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Exploration & feasibility
02
Construction & commissioning
03
Operations & maintenance
04
Closure & rehabilitation
From the geologists who prove the resource to the operators who run the plant and the teams who safely close it out, we build the workforce each phase demands.
What We Recruit
We recruit at every stage of a resources project — not just the easy ones.
Mining & process engineering, metallurgy
Geology & exploration
HSE & environmental
Operations, maintenance & trades
Oil, gas & LNG
Energy — power generation, transmission & distribution
Project management, contracts & commercial
Civil & infrastructure for resource projects
How You Work with Us
Permanent recruitment
For the roles you’re building your operation on, backed by McQuaig profiling for senior hires.
Contract & on-hire
Mobilise fast and scale with the project; contractors onboarded and payroll-ready in hours, not days.
Executive search
Discreet, market-mapped search for site leadership and C-suite.
Managed workforce
From individual roles to full site manning, you choose what to outsource and what to keep in-house.
Beyond recruitment — one workforce partner
Finding the people is half the job. Getting them on site, compliant and paid is the other half.
Most global firms hand those problems back to you. We don’t. Under one team we handle recruitment, work permits and visas, mobilisation, and payroll — including USD payroll for contractors and subcontractors associated with the Papua LNG Project. And if you don’t have a PNG legal entity, our Employer of Record means you don’t need one to put people to work.
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Building PNG’s resources workforce
PNG’s senior resources generation is approaching retirement just as the next wave of projects mobilises. We help you build the pipeline — through graduate programs, work-ready talent pools and structured localisation pathways, including the AIFFP-financed talent pool developing job-ready PNG nationals for energy and maritime projects.
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Who we work with
Trusted by major PNG resource employers including Ok Tedi Mining, by the Australian engineering consultancies that design the region’s mining and energy projects, and engaged on AIFFP-financed energy and infrastructure programs across the country.
Building PNG’s future workforce with Ok Tedi Mining
Two nationwide early-careers programs delivered at scale — branded attraction campaigns, ATS-managed screening and McQuaig assessment across 17 disciplines.
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1,000+ applications a year
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50–60 placements a year
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Partnership to 2028
From the pit to the boardroom, we know this sector.
Placements and programs across mining, energy and resources in PNG, from graduate intakes through to senior leadership.
The next project pipeline is already moving. Is your workforce partner in place?
Inspiring Greatness to Build Legacies.
