Avocet reports N.Sulawesi gold production
Wednesday, February 23 2011 - 02:55 AM WIB
North Lanut, North Sulawesi
During 2010 we conducted a strategic review of our South East Asia assets with the aim of ensuring these assets deliver the maximum value for the Group, and concluded that this aim would best be achieved through a cash sale, allowing the Company to focus on growth in West Africa. After a structured process during the second half of the year we announced the conditional sale of our assets in South East Asia to J&Partners, L.P., for a cash consideration of US$200 million. At 10 February 2011, being the expiry date for notification of exercise by minority interests of their rights of first refusal over certain of the sale assets, these rights had either lapsed unexercised or been assigned to J&Partners; further issues remain to be addressed. J&Partners, L.P. is a mining fund established by Jimmy Budiarto, a member of the Indonesian family that in November 2009 sold its interest in Indonesia's second largest mining contractor, PT Bukit Makmur Mandiri Utama (BUMA). With its experience of mining in Indonesia we are confident that J&Partners, L.P. will be able to develop the assets to their fullest potential, working with the high quality operational and exploration workforce that has enabled Penjom and North Lanut to produce over 1.5 million ounces over their mine lives to date and grow a resource base of 3.3 million ounces. (end of edited excerpt)
| Year ended 31 December | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Production statistics | |||||
| Ore mined (tonnes) | 1,122,000 | 2,144,000 | 1,313,000 | 1,430,000 | 1,356,000 |
| Waste mined (tonnes) | 1,814,000 | 1,397,000 | 1,181,000 | 2,290,000 | 1,536,000 |
| Ore and waste mined (tonnes) | 2,936,000 | 3,541,000 | 2,494,000 | 3,720,000 | 2,892 |
| Ore leached (tonnes) | 1,104,000 | 1,912,000 | 1,263,000 | 1,282,000 | 1,301,000 |
| Average ore head grade (g/t Au) | 1.80 | 2.46 | 2.10 | 1.69 | 1.87 |
| Process recovery rate | 76% | 49% | 52% | 67% | 61% |
| Gold produced (ounces) | 48,398 | 73,336 | 44,041 | 46,894 | 47,580 |
| Cash cost (US$/0z) | |||||
| - mining | 162 | 144 | 242 | 289 | 347 |
| - processing | 63 | 64 | 162 | 137 | 173 |
| - royalties and overheads | 94 | 78 | 150 | 124 | 154 |
| Total cash cost (US$/oz) | 319 | 286 | 554 | 550 | 674 |