Petrosea commences Australian mining ops
Tuesday, October 4 2005 - 03:07 AM WIB
On 3 May 2005, Petrosea and Renison entered into an Alliance Agreement to develop and operate an underground gold mining and processing operation at Tom?s Gully gold mine. The mining lease is located 90km south east of Darwin in the Northern Territory and has previously been mined by open cut methods.
According to Clogh, project financing is in place and development of the main decline has now commenced. Gold production is expected to commence in March 2006 upon re-commissioning of the carbon-in-leach gold processing plant, which is currently being refurbished.
David Singleton , CEO and Managing Director of Clough Limited said; ?This is a significant step for Petrosea. Being the company?s first mining venture outside Indonesia it is part of a wider mining strategy for Petrosea to broaden its scope, taking responsibility for the Group?s mining activities.?
The Tom?s Gully Alliance is an innovative contracting agreement which enables Renison and Petrosea to operate seamlessly at the mine site, through a 50/50 owned company, Tom?s Gully Mining Pty Ltd. Under the agreement Petrosea is responsible for providing underground mining expertise and capital equipment, while Renison provides the mining lease and the process plant. Tom?s Gully Mining Pty Ltd employs the workforce and manages the day to day operations.
The mine is projected to produce approximately 45,000 ounces of gold per annum from 250,000 tonnes of processed ore per annum.(alex)