Newmont prepares mine

JAKARTA (JP): PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara announced yesterday its Batu Hijau copper and gold mine site in Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, is set to begin operations by the middle of 1999.

The company's director of government relations and community affairs, Sutan Simanjuntak, said the site would be able to mine 270,000 ounces of copper and 550,000 ounces of gold annually.

Simanjuntak said the project totaled US$1.9 billion in investments, of which $246 million had been spent on equipment, construction of supporting facilities at the site and training programs.

"About 83 percent of the construction will be completed by the end of 1998," he said. (das)