Stonehenge faces overlapping permits in S.E Sulawesi nickel project
Thursday, April 17 2008 - 06:49 PM WIB
?PT Global Titik Persada, the vendor of the Mandiodo Nickel project has informed Stonehenge that some of the area comprising the Mandiodo exploration permits is subject to competing third party exploration permits,? the company said. Stonehenge has signed HoA to acquire 85 percent of the project from PT.Global.
?Based on copies of the Competing Permits supplied to Stonehenge by PT Global, it appears that the Competing Permits do not extend to the majority of the drilled area where the bulk of the mineralisation occurs,? it added.
The company said the validity of the Competing Permits and their impact on the Mandiodo exploration permits has not yet been established. ????.. This is complicated by the division of the Konawe regional government into two (north and south) and the procedural failure of the south Konawe regional government (who issued the Competing Permits) to notify the Ministry for Mines and Energy in Jakarta of the Competing Permits.?
PT Global has advised Stonehenge that there is a prospect that the Competing Permits will be resolved via negotiation with regard to the respective permit boundaries, the company said.
?Consequently, PT Global and Stonehenge are negotiating an extension to the terms of the HoA to both parties to establish the validity of the Competing Permits and for Stonehenge to assess what, if any, impact they will have on the transaction envisaged in the HoA,? it said.
Stonehenge acquired in late 2007 the right to explore the Mandiodo nickel laterite deposit. Mandiodo consists of two permits totaling 31 square kilometres.
The company has started drilling program at Mandiodo earlier this month to confirm the validity of existing drilling and allow JORC code compliant resources to be calculated.
The company has an initial exploration target for the deposit of 40-60 Mt @ 1.2 to 1.4% nickel. (alex)