Antam reports nickel, gold output down in 2005

State-owned diversified mining company PT Aneka Tambang Tbk reported Wednesday that its ferronickel and gold output declined by 8 percent to 7,338 tons, and 22 percent to 2,911 kilograms in 2005, respectively, compared to 2004.

Antam said ferronickel output was dropped due to the unplanned shutdown of FeNi II in Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi, at the beginning of 2005, while reduced gold output was due to soft wall conditions and lower than expected grades at its Pongkor underground gold mine in West Java.

Following the decline in its gold output, Antam?s silver production in 2005 also decreased by 11 percent to 24,605 kg compared to 2004. Meanwhile, saprolite and bauxite output increased by 8 percent each to 3,408,252 wet metric tons (wmt) and 1,441,899 wmt in 2005.

Antam also reported its iron sands output dropped by 76 percent to 21,901 wmt compared to 2004, as it discontinued its export to China due to the low iron content of its iron sands in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Antam targets to triple its ferronickel production to around 21,000 tons in 2006 and 26,000 tons in 2007 as the result of the full operation of its three ferronickel facilities in Pomalaa. (Robert)