Avocet disposes assets in RI

By Ruli Setiawan

UK mining firm Avocet Mining recently said in its second quarterly report it has completed the sale of its main Southeast Asian assets on June 24.

Sold assets in Indonesia includes its 80 percent interest in PT Avocet Bolaang Mongondow (PT ABM), which owns the North Lanut mine and Bakan project in North Sulawesi, for proceeds of US$170 million.

Previously, Avocet announced in the third quarter of 2011 that further sales had been concluded, namely PT Avocet Mining Services, its 75 percent interest in PT Gorontalo Sejahtera Mining, and its 60 percent interest in PT Arafura Surya Alam.

The combined gross proceeds for the disposals completed in the third quarter of 2011, including the sales of its Malaysian assets, were US$27 million.

In 2011 Avocet completed the sale of PT Arafura Mandiri Semangat (PT Arafura) and PT Aura Celebes Mandiri (PT ACM) to Reliance Resources Limited, a company owned by TSE listed Golden Peaks Resources Limited (Golden Peaks). Consideration was in the form of 7.9 million Golden Peaks shares.

Completion of one of the last two exploration assets occurred on 16 February 2012 for proceeds of US$2.0 million, resulting in a loss of US$0.1 million.

"The disposal of Avocet's assets in South East Asia enabled the strategic refocus of the group, with the Inata operating mine and exploration projects in West Africa being the core focus," Avocet said, adding that continuing operations are determined as the UK, West Africa mining operations, which includes exploration activity within the Inata mine licence area, and West Africa exploration which includes exploration projects in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.

Editing by Er Audy Zandri