Australia?s Newcrest to develop underground gold mining in Halmahera

Australian Newcrest Mining Limited was planning to develop Kencana gold prospect near Gosowong gold mine in Halmahera North Maluku by an underground mining method, a company official said Tuesday.

?The future of Gosowong hinges on the successful development of the Gosowong Extended underground mine which is planned to exploit the recently discovered Kencana Shoot located just one kilometer south of the processing plant,? Newcrest chief executive officer Tony Palmer said in a presentation at BIEM Conference 2004 in Jakarta.

According to Plamer, the mineral resource estimate for Kencana currently stands at 1.7 Mt @ 41g/t Au for 2.2 million ounces and the deposit remains open at depth and along strike to the south. This mineral resource has been reported above a 6 g/t Au cut-off based on preliminary planning for an underground mine at Gosowong Extended.

?Feasibility work is well advanced and development of an access decline is planned to commence in March 2005,? Palmer added.

The mining of the Gosowong pit was completed in 2003 and the new Toguraci open pit, utilising the existing Gosowong mill, will extend the life of the Gosowong project.

The Toguraci pits are currently planned to be completed by December 2005 which will supply ore to the mill through to June 2006. By then Gosowong will have produced approximately 1.3 million ounces of gold and a similar amount of silver.

Gosowong gold mine is operated by PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals, a joint venture company between PT Aneka Tambang (17.5 percent) and Newcrest Mining Limited (82.5 percent). (alex)