Mining sites in Lombok have high gold deposit

The gold content in several mining areas in Lombok island of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province have a higher gold content than those located in the neighboring island of Sumbawa, said Yusuf Merukh, the chief commissioner of PT Newmont Nusa Tenngara (NNT) as reported by Kompas daily.

"The gold content in mining areas in Lombok island ranges between three and five grams per ton while in Sumbawa island is about 2.5 grams per ton," he told visiting members of the Association of Indonesian Junior Entrepreneurs (HIPMI) on Thursday.

With such a high level of gold content, the gold mining areas in the two islands are quite promising local businessmen, he said. He added that the gold mining areas that have high gold and copper contents are located in Mount Rinjani and Sekotong, which could produce between 15 and 20 years.

According to Merukh, PT NNT, which is controlled by the United States-based Newmont Corporation have discovered 150 gold mining locations in Lombok and Sumbawa islands, covering an area of over 1.2 million hectares.

He said that the company would only manage and operate five of the locations covering an area of 119,000 hectares in Sekotong and Pecanangan in Lombok and Batu Hijau, Ealang and Kerinci in Sumbawa.

Merukh said that the other 145 locations have been returned to the local government, which could offer them to other investors. "HIPMI members should come first to take the advantage of the promising business, if not they will be taken by other businessmen," he said. (*)