Newmont Nusa Tenggara expects lower production this year
Thursday, April 7 2005 - 03:21 AM WIB
PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), one of the country's major copper and gold producer, expects to produce between 650 million pounds and 700 million pounds of copper concentrate and between 750,000 ounces and 800,000 ounces of gold this year from its Batu Hijau mine in the island of Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, Suara Karya reported on Thursday.
NNT's Acting Manager Ian Mac Griffin said in Sumbawa on Wednesday that this year's copper and gold production would be slightly lower from last year's total of 718 million pounds of copper and 919,000 ounces of gold.
He said that the there would be a slight decline in the production because larger part of the ores to be processed would have lower grade. "We hope we will be able to meet this year's production target," he added.
NTT's mining permit will last until 2030, but the company hopes to be able to complete the mining activities in 2018. (*)