Straits reports C. Kalimantan Q4 gold, silver output

The following is an excerpt from Straits Asia Resources on Central Kalimantan gold project, taken from the quarterly report ended Dec. 31, 2008 released on Friday.

Mt Muro, Central Kalimantan
Straits ? Contract of Work 100%

Mt Muro produced 12,880 ounces of gold and 95,898 ounces of silver in the quarter. For the first 6 months of the financial year, the operation produced at an annualised rate of 65koz Aueq. The plant performed exceptionally well processing in excess of 200kt of ore. This processing capacity will be beneficial as significant progress has been made in securing additional areas of economic elluvial ore.

Delays in commissioning the Coal Fired Power Station (CFPS) resulted in an increase in planned costs as the power demand was met by diesel power generation whilst incurring costs in preparing the CFPS for continuous operation. By mid December the CFPS was operational and generating base load power for the operation.

While higher power costs were a key factor behind the increase in unit cash costs during the quarter, the draw down of expensive gold inventory as part of stock movements from the start of the year also had an adverse impact on unit costs. The operation will benefit in future from the reduced diesel price, the ongoing operation of the CFPS and the continual focus on cost reductions. A new site management team was established mid-quarter and have been heavily focused on reducing costs with positive results achieved in December. (end of excerpt)

	Unit	Dec Qtr 2008	Sept Qtr 2008	June Qtr 2008	Mar Qtr 2008	YTD
Ore Milled	tonnes	204,997	172,062	104,906	108,378	590,343
Gold grade	g/t Au	2.25	3.50	2.98	3.74	3.02
Silver grade	g/t Ag	31	32	16	17	26
Gold recovery	% Au	86.2%	90.8%	92.7%	92.4%	90.8%
Silver recovery	% Ag	45.8%	58.8%	62.6%	58%	54%
Production gold*	oz Au	12,880	17,188	10,003	11,725	51,796
Production Silver	oz Ag	95,898	98,498	33,461	35,325	263,182
Gold Sold	oz Ag	14,290	15,431	9,323	16,235	55,279
* Production reported is gold poured