UT gold unit to soon select contractor for mine infrastructure, processing plant
Wednesday, August 23 2017 - 05:37 AM WIB
Petromindo|Khalsa
West Nusa Tenggara gold mining firm PT Sumbawa Jutaraya (SJR), an indirect subsidiary of IDX-listed heavy equipment and mining firm PT United Tractors Tbk (UT), hopes to conclude next month ongoing tender to select EPC contractor for the construction of mine infrastructure and processing facilities.
UT Director of Mining and Energy, Frans Kusuma told Petromindo.com recently that the EPC contractor is expected to be selected by September at the latest.
He added that construction process is expected to be completed within 14 months, to allow the mine to start production next year.
UT through subsidiary PT Pamapersada Nusantara acquired in February of 2015 a 75.5 percent stake in Sumbawa Jutaraya, which owns gold mine in Sumbawa, for US$2.57 million. Prior to the acquisition, Sumbawa Jutaraya was majority owned by United Gold Resources Pte Ltd, and 5 percent owned by PT Sumba Mas Persada.
In March of this year, UT President Gideon Hasan said that maiden production was expected to start later this year, relatively at small volume as the company was still preparing the processing facility.
?Output at the end of this year will be less than 10,000 oz,? he said at the time, adding that the output will come from one block where the company has completed exploration work and is estimated to have gold reserves of 400,000 oz.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak