Australia's Laverton finds gold at Rawas

JAKARTA (JP): A Western Australian mining company, Laverton Gold N.L. (Laverton), announced to the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday the discovery of new substantial gold bearing deposits at its 100 percent owned Rawas gold project in Rawas, South Sumatra.

The chief executive officer of Laverton, Jim William, said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post yesterday that the new finds will add significantly to the strength of the ore reserves at Rawas.

"The two discoveries are within 10 kilometers of the present pits, all contained within the 117-square-kilometer contract of work that Laverton has established with the Indonesian government," he said.

Being one of the few contract works with the Indonesian government which does not require a local partner, William said Rawas was destined to provide significant benefits for Laverton shareholders.

Rawas was originally identified in 1986 by CRA Limited, which sold the resource to the Setdco Group, which is controlled by prominent Indonesian businessman Setiawan Djody.

Laverton bought Rawas in 1993 in exchange for cash and shares, resulting in Setdco taking a strong equity position in Laverton, taking two seats on the board of directors, the statement added.

William said that trenching in the Jenih area, two kilometers of the Rawas project, had identified quartz zones over an area of 900 by 230 meters with substantial grades, between 1.38 grams and 32 grams per ton, at shallow depths.

Outcrop and auger drilling at the Telun Merangin system, 10 kilometers northwest of Rawas, has identified gold-silver mineralization associated with quartz veining over an area of 600 by 400 meters showing up to 11 grams of gold per ton, he said.

With a low recovery cost of below US$250 per ounce and the prospect of more ore bearing deposits still to be identified, William said it could be expected the resource would extend beyond its already identified seven years of resource life. (04)