West Sumatra gold mining

JAKARTA (JP): Four mining companies which commenced explorations in West Sumatra in 1997 were yet to report any significant discoveries, head of the provincial office of the Ministry of Mines and Energy Syamsurizal Syafei told Antara on Tuesday

"Heavy rain in the past several months made exploration work very difficult," Syafei said from Padang.

However, Syafei acknowledged that three years of exploration work were generally needed before results could be obtained.

Exploration work usually encompasses preliminary surveys and excavation of gold ore samples from jungle and river bank sites, Syafei said.

The foreign companies, which together hold gold mining concessions of 1.3 million hectares in West Sumatra, comprise PT Prima Barisan Mining (the Netherlands), PT Nukris Sumatera Mineral (Singapore), PT Solok Mas (Australia) and PT Ingold Sumatera (Canada). (06)