Toka Tindung starts full production

London-listed Archipelago Resources Plc, a miner controlled by Rajawali Group, said it has started full production at its 95%-owned Toka Tindung gold mine in North Sulawesi.

The company is now meeting its processing throughput criteria of 1.5 million tonnes per annum and expects that Toka would produce at least 60,000 ounces of gold during 2011, averaging approximately 150,000 ounces of gold annually over the life of the mine, said a media release.

"Meeting our production objective is a significant achievement for Archipelago,? said Marcus Engelbrecht, Archipelago Managing Director and CEO, in the release.

?This production milestone also demonstrates the extent of the support by our local communities who will participate in the economic benefits the mine provides. Our success locally has also been due to support from the Indonesian authorities and our major shareholder, Rajawali Corporation."

Archipelago has completed the first stage of an intensive drilling program to better define resource mineralization within the Toka Tindung mining permit area. (romel)