Vista Gold to execute option to acquire Awak Mas gold project

Colorado-based mining company Vista Gold said Thursday it was scheduled to execute the option to acquire the Awak Mas gold project in South Sulawesi in April.

“Our due diligence efforts regarding the Awak Mas property in Indonesia are proceeding on schedule and we anticipate exercising the option to acquire the property in April, following Vista’s board of directors’ and regulatory approvals,” Vista president Mike Richings said in statement.

Vista signed an option agreement in November 2004 to acquire the Awak Mas gold deposit, for a purchase price of US$1.5 million. Vista has six months to conduct due diligence.

The 80-square-kilometer Awak Mas project, which is held by PT Masmindo Eka Sakti under a Contract of Work with the government, contains a measured/indicated resource of 1.656 million ounces of gold and a 259,000 ounce inferred gold resource. Significant drilling occurred on the property in the 1990s. A feasibility study supported mining some 3 million metric tons of ore annually. (Robert)