Ministry to evaluate mine plan for Tumpang Pitu gold project

The Ministry of Forestry and Environment is set to dispatch a team to look into and evaluate the mine plan for the Tumpang Pitu gold project in Banyuwangi, East Java, to help ensure that the planned gold mining activities would not trigger social conflict and environmental problem.

This was said by Director General of Forest Zoning and Environment at the ministry, San Afri Awang as reported by Kompas Wednesday.

The statement comes following concerns including expressed by an NGO that the mining process at the Tumpang Pitu gold concession, owned by PT Bumi Suksesindo (BSI), a subsidiary of IDX-listed PT Merdeka Copper Gold Tbk, will involve the use of cyanide.

BSI External Affairs Manager Bambang Wijonarko told Kompas that the mining process at Tumpang Pitu will use the heap leach system, in which a mixture of water and cyanide will be used in part of the process. He, however, said that process will be tightly supervised and control so as not to pollute the environment. He added that with the heap leach system, the mining process will not produce tailings.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) has recently declared the Tumpang Pitu gold concession as a national vital object, allowing the police to tighten security around the concession and banning local villagers from entering the area without proper permit. Some villagers in November of last year attacked and vandalized facilities at the mine.

Merdeka has said that production at the Tumpang Pitu gold project is expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year. According to 2012 JORC, the Bukit Tujuh mine holds ore reserves of 90 million tons in its oxide layer. The project is expected to produce 90,000 ounces of gold and 300,000 oz of silver per year from late 2016 to 2025. (*)