The development of a large gold mine on Niolam, the main island of the Lihir group, has seen many changes in Lihir, both negative and positive. Increasingly Lihirians perceive these changes as the cause of growing inequality between various sectors of Lihirian society. Both Lihirians and some outsiders working at the mine (both Papua New Guinean and Australian) condemn what they see as the development of a ‘class-based’ society. Perceptions of inequality are largely based on the distribution of funds gained from the mine, particularly those of compensation and royalties, as certain individuals and groups are now seen as having gained funds through no effort of their own.

Since mining began in Lihir, conceptions of social equity have been largely expressed in terms of economic equity. This inequity is not perceived as a necessary or unavoidable result of the development associated with mining, but is viewed as the result of the actions of persons in Lihir. The economic gains of some people are viewed negatively in comparison with notions of the moral acquisition of economic benefits, primarily through work. Traditionally, gains obtained through the work of feasting were redistributed. The prestige of older men relied on their redistribution of the pigs and shell money acquired through their position as leaders. Many older men have benefitted as a result of the activities of mining are not distributing these gains. Their actions are being judged by other Lihirians as opposed to morally valued generosity, instead being viewed as greedy for breaching these ideals of redistribution (cf. Kahn 1986:39–44 on ideals of generosity and censure of greed and gluttony).