pp. 356 Illusts First Edition #0517 Gold mining Papua New Guinea. The people of the Tari Basin and of the Porgera/Paiela area of Papua New Guinea tell of a gigantic snake that lives in the caverns of the dramatic, high limestone country that separates — but also joins — their lands. The snake, regulator of people’s fortunes both good and bad, sheds its skin as gold. Following a host of individual seekers after the serpent’s shed skin, like Joe Searson and Jim Taylor, the Porgera Joint Venture Partners began to excavate their way into one part of the snake’s domain in 1989 after years of exploration.