Newcrest suspends Toguraci development activities

Australian miner Newcrest Mining Limited on Monday announced that it had temporarily suspended pre-strip activity in Toguraci mine development in Halmahera Island, North Maluku due to unauthorized mining by local people.

?The scale of unauthorized mining which commenced over the wee-end is small, however, due to safety and security precautions mining will be ceased until the site can be cleared,? said the company in a statement.

?Newcrest has in place a plan which it is implementing to ensure the mine, the personnel and associated facilities are protected and will liaise with government agencies to enable mining operations to commence as soon as possible,? the statement added.

Newcrest had originally planned to commence commercial production in Toguraci, by using the company?s Gosowong processing facilities. Gosowong mine operations had been stopped due to reserves exhaustion.

Newcrest holds 82.5 percent equity in PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals, which runs the gold mine, while state miner PT Aneka Tambang Tbk, holds the remaining 17.5 percent. (alex)