Vanguard Mining to develop gypsum mine in East Nusa Tenggara

By Romel S. Gurky

US-based Vanguard Mining Corporation announced Thursday that the company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to acquire an 80 percent equity interest in Indonesian mining firm Yupolo Resources, in exchange for a combination of cash and stock, and co-develop a 3,500-hectare gypsum and limestone concession in East Nusa Tenggara Province.

Both companies will promptly enter into a definitive agreement for the contemplated sale and purchase and plan to close this transaction within 45 days after the signing of the definitive agreement, subject to further satisfactory due diligence review, Vanguard said in a statement.

The gypsum deposits at this concession are of high quality (purity of 85 - 95% CaSO4.2H2O) and estimated to be in excess of 30 million metric tons while the limestone deposits are approximately 400 million metric tons, it added.

Located in the District of East Solor, Solor Island, Regency of East Flores, Province of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, the proposed mine spot of the concession is only four kilometers from the new expanded Menanga Sea Port.

Vanguard said that the company and Yupolo Resources intend to develop this concession in four stages:

Stage 1:
Gypsum & limestone mining to produce up to 2 million MT (metric tons) of gypsum & limestone/ year by the second year of production for both local markets and exports. Yupolo Resources already has committed buyers.

Stage 2:
Clinker plant (capacity 250,000 to 500,000 MT of clinker/ year to meet the demand of cement plants in the local region).

Stage 3:
Mini cement plant with capacity of 100,000 to 200,000 MT cement/ year (cement consumption in the surrounding areas is over 3,000,000 MT/ year with double digit growth rate).

Stage 4:
Integrated cement plant with capacity of 1 to 2 million MT cement/ year.

Choky Simanjuntak, Chairman and CEO of Yupolo Resources, said, "We are pleased to cooperate with Vanguard Mining Corporation to develop this concession and are confident that our products will be able to meet part of the growing demand of gypsum, limestone, clinker, and cement for the domestic as well as the export markets."

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak