Angry protesters attack Sihayo's exploration camp in North Sumatra

A group of local demonstrators stormed into the exploration camp of Australian mining firm Sihayo Gold Limited in North Sumatra, disrupting the firm's acvitities and causing significant damage on the camp.

The firm, which owns 75 percent of the Sihayo Pungkut Gold Project, said in a statement on Monday that the protesters were supported by the representatives of illegal artisanal miners of the area.

"Company personnel have all been accounted for, and are safe and uninjured. Despite local police presence, the demonstrators have caused significant damage to the company?s exploration camp.

"Currently, local police personnel are moving to secure the exploration camp," the firm said.

The company's officials are meeting with the North Sumatra police and have scheduled a meeting with all stakeholders including representatives of the government handling mining affairs and all relevant village heads. The meeting will be focused on safety, security and the illegal mining activities that local villages are conducting within the Company?s Contract of Work area (COW," the firm said.

The company said it believes the action was provoked by a minority group of individuals who are participating in illegal mining activities within the COW. The most significant illegal mining is occurring some 7km southeast of the main Sihayo resource. The company is working closely with local authorities to bring those responsible for these acts to justice.

The company is also working to assess the damage and to ensure that the disruption to our operations is minimized.

"Whilst these actions are deplorable, we will seek support within the local community for companies like Sihayo Gold who conduct sanctioned mining activites, which create sustainable economic opportunities for all our stakeholders, including those within the local community," the company said.

During the period of disruption at the Sihayo Pungkut Gold Project, regional exploration across the COW continues with the primary focus being the ongoing drilling program at the Tambang Tinggi porphyry copper/gold prospect and the pre-drilling exploration work at the Hutabargot Julu epithermal gold prospect, according to the firm. (romel)