Avocet targets new Indonesian gold mine in two years

UK gold miner Avocet Mining said on Wednesday that beside concentrating to bring to bring its Bakan project in North Sulawesi to production within the next two years, it had also been actively evaluating other prospects in Indonesia.

The company said in a report that it had identified a number of excellent exploration targets in Mongondow Contract of Work (CoW) area, where further work has been deferred in favour of resource development at Bakan.

The company said it had also finalized the first phase of drilling on the 108,600 hectares Idenburg CoW property in Papua. Further drilling has been delayed by severe flooding that has washed out roads and bridges in the province. ?We expect drilling to recommence later in the year,? it said.

In South Sulawesi prospect area, the company had staked prospective ground and are undertaking surface exploration work. ?Work to date has identified several medium to high-grade orogenic quartz lodes in the margin of a monzonite intrusion. Soil sampling identified a significant multi-element anomaly that has the potential to become a drill target,? the company said.

Avocet already operates its first gold mine in Indonesia, The North Lanut, with full year production of 54,520 ounces. The company had recently discovered an inferred resource of 18.2 million tonnes at 0.9 g/t Au containing 533,000 ounces of gold in nearby Bakan prospect with further upside potential. The encouraging results prompts the company to target Bakan as its Indonesian second mine in two years. (alex)