Soeharto to inaugurate Sulawesi gold mine
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto is scheduled to inaugurate a gold mine operated by PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in North Sulawesi soon. The mine is expected to produce 93,000 ounces of gold this year, North Sulawesi Governor E.E. Mangindaan said, without giving a specific date for the inauguration.
Speaking to reporters yesterday after meeting with President Soeharto about development in his province, the governor said that the company's investment for gold exploration totaled Rp 407 billion (US$175.4 million).
"The company's gold processing plant has completed its operational test and is ready to start commercial operation," he said.
According to Mangindaan, every ton of ore from the Minahasa mines can produce an average of 7.11 grams of gold.
The company's president, Tom Mair, told Reuter recently that the mine started operating in March with a processing capacity of 2,000 tons of ore per day.
The mine, which is located in Ratatotok -- about 100 kilometers south of the North Sulawesi provincial capital of Manado -- is expected to produce 140,000 ounces a year and have a 13-year lifespan.
The current reserves are estimated at 8.8 million tons of ore and have an anticipated recovery rate of 90 percent.
Governor Mangindaan said that the proven gold reserves in the province could increase as the company continues its exploration activities.
According to Newmont Minahasa's vice president Eric Hamer, the mine was using under-sea disposal for its tailings which are discharged from a 1,080-meter pipeline on a slope at a depth of 82 meters, the first time this technique has been used in Indonesia.
PT Newmont Minahasa Raya is 80 percent owned by Newmont Gold Company of the United States through Newmont Indonesia Ltd. and 20 percent by an Indonesian mining company, PT Tanjung Serapung.
The governor said that President Soeharto will also inaugurate a number of projects, including a power plant and hotels. "The total investment of the projects, including the gold mine, is Rp 845 billion," he said. (13)