Newmont starts producing gold in North Sulawesi

Newmont starts producing gold in North Sulawesi

JAKARTA (JP): PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, an Indonesian-
Australian joint venture, will soon start producing 100,000
ounces of gold bullion per annum in Minahasa, North Sulawesi, the
company announced in Manado yesterday.

"After conducting explorations since 1986, we'll start
producing gold," John AS Dow, the president of the foreign mining
company, said in Manado yesterday.

With an investment which may reach US$2.5 billion, including
that for infrastructure, the company plans to process about 2,000
tons of gold ore per day which will produce some 14,000 grams
(493.8 ounces) of gold. Processing the ore into 92 percent
bullion takes three days, he said.

He noted that only PT Aneka Tambang's laboratory in Jakarta
can process ore into 100 percent gold bullion.

"During the first year of operation, we will be able to
produce some 100,000 ounces of gold. But in the second year, we
will increase our output to 150,000 ounces," he was quoted by
Antara as saying.

According to John Eltham, the company's general manager, the
mining site in Minahasa contains some 2.1 million ounces in gold
reserves that are estimated to be adequate to support 13 years of
production. Other small reserves have also been discovered around
the mining site. (13)