Sumbawa Island to get US$400m investment<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara will invest up to
\nUS$400 million to develop infrastructure around its Batu Hijau
\ncopper and gold mines on Sumbawa Island, east of Bali, a company
\nexecutive said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"The infrastructure, including a 160 megawatt power plant
\nworth about $190 million and a port facility worth $55 million in
\nBenete Bay, are scheduled to be built in March,\" Newmont Nusa
\nTenggara president Eric Hamer said.<\/p>\n
Newmont will also build a township for thousands of employees,
\nschools for native and expatriate children, roads and water and
\ncommunication systems, he said.<\/p>\n
All facilities are expected to be ready before Bukit Hijau
\nstarts production in November 1999, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The total investment in the Batu Hijau copper and gold mining
\nprojects is estimated at $1.9 billion,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The mines will be developed in an area of 27,000 hectares.<\/p>\n
The projects are owned by a joint venture company, which is 45
\npercent owned by America's Newmont Nusa Tenggara, 35 percent by
\nJapan's Sumitomo Corporation and 20 percent by Indonesia's
\nPukuafu Indah.<\/p>\n
\"Batu Hijau mining, discovered in 1990 by Newmont, contains an
\nestimated 11.7 billion pounds of copper and 13.4 million ounces
\nof gold which are sufficient to support 20 years of production,\"
\nHamer said.<\/p>\n
He said the copper grade was 0.52 percent and the gold grade
\n0.013 ounces a ton.<\/p>\n
He said an environmental impact analysis for the project had
\nbeen approved by the Environmental Control Agency, but Newmont
\nwas still waiting for a final approval from the Ministry of Mines
\nand Energy to begin production.<\/p>\n
The projects will employ 5,500 people in construction and
\n2,300 in production, 90 percent of them will be Indonesian, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The copper project in Sumbawa will be the second in Indonesia
\nafter the Freeport mine in Irian Jaya, which started production
\nin 1973.<\/p>\n
Batu Hijau will be an open pit operation with an estimated
\ndaily average mining rate of 500,000 tons and milling rate of
\n120,000 tons, with a potential of 160,000 tons a day in its
\nseventh year of operation.<\/p>\n
Hamer said the project was expected to produce 245,000 tons of
\ncopper, 513,000 ounces of gold and 970,000 ounces of silver a
\nyear in concentrates.<\/p>\n
\"Bukit Hijau is projected to meet a break-even point between
\nseven to nine years of operation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bukit Hijau will use salt water flotation for gold recovery
\nand subsea tailings disposal, he said.<\/p>\n
Hamer said PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, a subsidiary of the
\nColorado-based Newmont Gold Company (NGC), signed a 30-year
\ncontract of work in 1986 for a 197,000 hectare concession on the
\nislands of Sumbawa and Lombok.<\/p>\n
NGC has been operating a gold mine in Minahasa, North
\nSulawesi, since last March through its subsidiary, Newmont
\nMinahasa Raya, with an annual capacity of 140,000 ounces of gold
\nbullion. (04)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sumbawa-island-to-get-us400m-investment-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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