Newmont to sell N. Sumatra gold project

US top gold mining firm Newmont Mining Corp. finally decides to sell its Martabe gold project in North Sumatra, a company official was quoted by Minergynews as saying.

Noke Kiroyan, president of Newmont?s unit PT. Newmont Pacific Nusantara was quoted as saying that the decision to sell the project was made because the project was not in line with Newmont?s strategy. The report did not further elaborate but earlier report said that the project?s reserves were to small for a big company like Newmont to manage.

Noke, however, did not say whether Newmont had been involved in serious talks with potential buyers.

Newmont has 90 percent stake in PT. Newmont Horas Nauli which operates the project. The remaining balance is held by the Tahija family through PT.Austindo Nusantara Jaya.

The report said several local and multinational firms had been interested to acquire Newmont?s stake in the project.

Pre-feasibility study on the gold project conducted by previous owner Normany Mining in 2002 revealed that high returns from the project could be achieved from a heap or dump leach operation for a low entry capital of approximately US$30 million and operating cost of approximately US$105/oz, with an indicative average annual production of 150,000ozs. (*)