RI gold prospect too small: Newmont

RI gold prospect too small: Newmont

SYDNEY: The Martabe gold prospect in Indonesia could be too small for Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp. to develop, the company's Australian managing director Paul Dowd said.

Drilling results on the advanced exploration project in northern Sumatra indicate potential for three million ounces of gold disseminated over several deposits, he told Dow Jones Newswires.

"It may well be an interesting prospect, but I'm not sure it fits our mold entirely, it could be too small," Dowd said.

Newmont continues to drill Martabe and is yet to issue a timeframe for making a decision to proceed or abandon the project.

The world's biggest gold producer operates the Batu Hijau gold mine on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa.

The company is also the subject of a criminal case over alleged dumping of mercury and arsenic from its Minahasa Raya mine on the northern tip of Sulawesi.

Minahasa was mined out and closed in August 2004. Newmont's Indonesia country manager, U.S. citizen Richard Ness, faces up to 10 years jail if found guilty. -- Dow Jones