Barrick's license to explore gold in Bengkulu extended

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has agreed to extend the license of Barrick Corporation to explore gold in Bengkulu province for another year until December, 2006, Kompas reported on Saturday.

Aminuddin NS, the head of the mining office of the Bengkulu provincial admistration, said in Bengkulu on Friday that Barrick has found meaningful gold deposits in its gold mine in the southern part of the province.

However, the company needed more time to carry out exploration activities to find out if the existing gold reserves were feasible enough for further development, Aminuddin added.

The company's existing exploration permit expires in December (*)