UK miner raises funds to develop Indonesian copper, gold projects

UK miner Finders Resources announced on Wednesday that it had raised ?3.5 million through the placing of 17,500,000 shares at 20 pence per share at the London Stock Exchange?s AIM. The company said the fund raised would be used to develop its assets.

The company has interests in two projects in Indonesia, the Wetar copper project in Wetar island, Maluku and the Ojolali gold-silver project in Lampung..

The company said both the Wetar and Ojolali projects comprise near-term mine development opportunities for the company with good potential for discovery of additional Resources.

Finders has 61% interest in Wetar Copper Project, a high grade, open pit copper project with an independently estimated Indicated and Inferred Resource of 10.7 million tonnes grading 2.4% Cu and 0.6 g/t Au for +250,000 tonnes of contained copper; and 72% interest in the Ojolali Gold?Silver Project, a major system of low sulphidation epithermal veins, with Inferred Resources of ~320,000 oz Au and 39 M oz Ag.

The company is planning the completion of a scoping study for the Wetar project development by Q2 2006, based on production of 30,000 tonnes of copper per year and resource definition and exploration drilling, and the completion of a scoping study for Ojolali development in Q3 2006, it said.

?Positive outcomes from these studies would lead to full feasibility studies for both projects, and probable development,? the company said. (alex).