Southern Arc gets IUP license for its West Lombok property

Canadian metal explorer Southern Arc Minerals Inc. announced on Wednesday that its newly formed Indonesian subsidiary PT Indotan Lombok Barat Bangkit (PT ILBB) has been granted a Mining Business License or "IUP" for its West Lombok property, located on Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara Province.

The IUP has been granted for an area totalling 10,088 hectares.

Southern Arc holds 85% of the shares of PT ILBB, with 10% being held by the local government (the West Lombok Regency) and the remaining 5% held by the Company's original Indonesian partner, PT Puri Permata Mega. A Joint Venture Agreement among the three partners has recently been finalized in preparation to advance this property.

The West Lombok Regency interest is free-carried throughout the life of the project.

The Exploration Stage of the IUP is initially valid for 5 years and permits the Company to pursue exploration activities up to the conclusion of a feasibility study. This period may be extended with approval of the Indonesian Government. On approval of a feasibility study, the Company will automatically be able to transition the IUP into the Exploitation Stage, with the right to conduct mining production on this property for 20 years, with the potential for two further 10-year extension periods.

The West Lombok Project IUP (10,088 hectares) covers a 13 km long, northwest trending structural corridor of mineralization and alteration. This is a Mineral Belt within which the Pelangan Epithermal Gold, Mencanggah Epithermal/Porphyry, and Selodong Porphyry prospects are located. These prospects have been targeted for porphyry intrusions and related mineral systems, including porphyry copper-gold, high sulfidation gold-copper and mesothermal to epithermal gold deposits.(alex)