Sumatra appoints consultants for gold, silver project PFS

Australia-listed metal exploration firm Sumatra Copper and Gold plc reported Tuesday it has signed agreements with four leading mining consultancies in respect of the pre-feasibility study (PFS) for its fully owned gold and silver project, Tembang in Sumatra.

The company recently announced its intention to complete the PFS by mid-2011 to pave the way for the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) to be carried out in the second half of 2011.

The PFS will be prepared with the support of independent consultant including PT Runge Indonesia, (PTRI) (mining), Lycopodium Minerals Pty Ltd (metallurgy and plant),

Knight Pi?sold Pty Limited (KP) (geotechnical, civil engineering and water quality) and PT MAL Sriwijaya (PTMS) (social and environment) to complete the following activities:

1) PTRI is the Indonesian subsidiary of the Australian based international consulting group Runge Limited. PTRI will act as co-ordinator of the study and be responsible for the mining input and economic analysis. Runge provides consulting, training, and software for the mining and related services industries globally. Runge companies include MRM Mining Services in South Africa, Pincock Allen & Holt in the USA, GeoGAS in Australia and Minarco-MineConsult, mining and energy industry advisors in the Asia Pacific region.

2)Lycopodium is an Australian-based international engineering services and project management group responsible for metallurgical input and testwork and process design.

Lycopodium has provided feasibility studies and EPCM services for many recent gold processing plants, of similar design to Tembang, in Australia, Asia, and Africa.

3)KP?s mining services expertise has been utilised on hundreds of surface and underground mining projects worldwide, particularly with respect to geochemical characterisation, waste management, tailings disposal, heap leach pads, rock mechanics, groundwater evaluation, water supply, water management and environmental services.

4)PTMS, an Indonesian based environmental engineering company is one of the three companies approved by West Sumatra Goverment to undertake a full Environmental Impact Assessment for the project. (alex)