Martabe gold mine delivers strong Q1 performance
Tuesday, June 21 2016 - 01:24 AM WIB
PT Agincourt Resources, the owner and operator of the Martabe gold mine in South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra Province, stated that the mine delivered a strong production performance in the first quarter of 2016.
Tim Duffy, President Director and Managing Director of Agincourt said in a press statement Monday that the company's processing plant milled as much as 1.215 million tons of ore that produced 78,171 ounces of gold and 573,892 ounces of silver during the quarter.
"Gold sold in the first quarter of 2016 reached 71,626 ounces and 556,368 ounces of silver," he said.
Duffy explained that the capital spent through the first quarter was US$8.2 million, whilst the exploration expenditures are expected to be approximately $2.19 million. "Our annual capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $67 million while exploration expenditures are expected to be approximately $12 million," he said.
According to Duffy the firm is currently in preparation to install a secondary crusher, planned to take place next year, and to be commissioned in 2017, which will enable Martabe to increase process plant throughput to 5 million tons per annum.
Another important progress of Martabe, Duffy added, is application to the government to develop and operate the Barani and Ramba Joring Pits. ?These are much smaller than the existing Purnama pit and together will extend the life of mine at Martabe by 2 years from 10 years we initially have with only Purnama Pit.?
As of December 2015, the estimated resource base of the Martabe Gold Mine has been 7.4 million ounces of gold and 69 million ounces of silver, and the total reserves are now 2.68 Moz of gold and 27.2 Moz of silver, the company said.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak