Austindo, partner plan Papuan gold exploration early next year

Australian miner Austindo Resources Corporation NL announced Monday that a new tenement area has been granted for exploration of gold and its associated minerals in the District of Teluk Bintuni, Papua, to its Strategic Alliance unit with the Anglo American Group (Anglo) PT Alam Papua Nusantara.

Austindo said the new tenement area, known as the Aisasjur Prospect, which covers an area of 9,486 hectares, granted under a Kuasa Pertambangan (KP) for an initial three year period which is renewable.

?Exploration programmes will start in the New Year and will be carried out by Anglo. Anglo will sole fund exploration expenditure and has an initial interest of 80% while Austindo retains a 20% interest,? Austindo said.

The primary target types at the Aisasjur Prospect are large porphyry related copper-gold deposits. Previous exploration in the area, including drilling, carried out in the 1990?s returned encouraging results and confirmed the presence of significant gold mineralization, Austindo said.

According to the statement, the Aisasjur Prospect area geologically lies within one of Indonesia?s young tertiary volcano plutonic arcs which are prospective for both porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold mineralisation styles. (Robert)