Newcrest, Sumatra terminate Tandai gold JV project

By Romel S. Gurky

ASX-listed Sumatra Copper & Gold Plc announced Friday that it has entered into a Deed of Termination and Release with respect to the Tandai gold joint venture project on the island of Sumatra which it entered into with Newcrest Mining Limited.

The Tandai joint venture, ?Heads of Agreement? was announced to the ASX on the 27 July 2010 and the formal completion of joint venture arrangements announced to the ASX on the 31 March 2011.

Under the terms of the Tandai joint venture agreement, Newcrest were to earn a 70 percent interest in the project by spending a minimum US$12 million over a 5-year period on the Tandai joint venture project.

To date, Newcrest have spent approximately $4.7 million on the project in the period to July 2013. The company announced in its quarterly report for the period ending June 2013 that Newcrest were unlikely to extend their commitment to the joint venture project, Sumatra said in a statement, but did not provide the reasons for terminating the JV project.

?Under the terms of the Deed of Termination and Release, Newcrest will pay Sumatra Copper and Gold plc?s subsidiary PT Bengkulu Utara Gold (BUG ) the sum of $153,750.45 in settlement of all outstanding expenses related to the Tandai joint venture. Going forward Sumatra will hold 100 percent of the Tandai project,? the statement said.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak