Papua New Guinea’s copper- and gold-rich Bougainville region is set to declare independence by 2027, eight years after a landslide vote to secede, its leader said on Wednesday.

The region – home to about 300,000 people and a vast, long-closed copper and gold mine – voted 97.7 per cent in favour of independence in a 2019 referendum.

But some analysts say it is unclear whether Papua New Guinea will agree to let the region break away any time soon, and what form its future status will take.

The independence referendum capped a 2001 peace agreement that brought an end to a decade-long war between Bougainville rebels, Papua New Guinea security forces and foreign mercenaries, leaving as many as 20,000 people dead.