Avocet reports update from Indonesian mining activities
Tuesday, September 26 2006 - 09:12 AM WIB
Unseasonal rainfall at the North Lanut operation has required the mine to conduct some re-engineering of the waste dumps and storm water ponds for the dump leach. The company has also brought forward the decision to hire articulated dump trucks for ore and waste haulage. This has coincided with the cancellation of government-funded fuel subsidies, which has resulted in significantly increased diesel prices. These factors have translated into a higher production cost of over US$320/oz compared to US$191/oz for the previous year. In spite of these challenges, the mining team has maintained gold production at the forecast rate of approximately 50,000 ounces per annum.
At Bakan, located close to North Lanut, we continue to drill the Durian and Osela deposits. This drilling should allow us to bring the recently announced inferred resource of 533,000 ounces up to the measured and indicated category so that feasibility work can commence at the start of next year.
Our exploration program at South Sulawesi has produced some significant trenching results, which were announced on 30 August, and we expect further ongoing trenching results to be announced later this year. Drilling has recommenced at the Idenburg property in West Papua where we are exploring for a high-grade gold resource through scout drilling of areas of known gold mineralisation, including the Sua area, which was drilled last year. We are also in negotiations over a number of additional prospects in Indonesia. (end of excerpt)