Production at Newmont's Batu Hijau mine may fall 40% this year: Report

Copper and gold miner PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) has predicted a 40 percent decline in the production of its Batu Hijau mine in West Nusa Tenggara this year from the peak production in 2004, Bisnis Indonesia daily reported Wednesday.

NNT's President Director Patrick Hickey said Tuesday that the mine's cooper and gold production which reached its peak of 800 million pounds and 700,000 ounces respectively in 2004 had showed a declining trend during the last three years.

"This year we have entered a production phase where the area being mined has less deposit," he said.

Hickey said that NNT planned to develop the Elang mining area in Sumbawa Besar within the next few years. "The deposit in the mining area is relatively big but its copper and gold content is relatively lower," he said.

"However, if the price of copper is between $3 and $4 per pound, the development of the mining area remains economically viable," he said. (*)