Petrosea signs deal on Australian mine

JAKARTA: Publicly listed engineering construction and mining company PT Petrosea has signed an agreement with Renison Consolidated Mines NL to develop and operate a gold mine in Tom's Gully, 90 kilometers southeast of Darwin, Australia.

The alliance, in the form of a 50-50 owned company Tom's Gully Mining Pty. Ltd., is Petrosea's first mining venture outside Indonesia, said the company's president director John Sheridan in a statement.

Under the agreement, Petrosea is responsible for providing underground mining expertise and capital equipment while Renison provides the mining lease and process plant.

The gold production is expected to start in March 2006 as soon as the processing plant is ready. It will produce around 45,000 ounces of gold from the 250,000 tons of processed ore annually. -- JP