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Malaysia
Updated Bau resource expected soon
AN ongoing infill and step-out drilling program
continues to intersect significant gold mineralization
at the Bau Central deposit of Olympus
Pacific Minerals’ Bau Gold Project in
Sarawak, East Malaysia. An updated gold resource
estimate is expected to be announced
early this year.
A conceptual model of Olympus Pacific Minerals’ Bau Gold Project in East Malaysia.
Recent results around the old BYG open pit
in the Bekajang sector of Bau Central include
15.9 metres @ 7.35 grams/tonne gold, 11 metres
@ 11.71 grams/tonne, 3 metres @ 10.25
grams/tonne, 4.7 metres @ 8.14 grams/tonne,
9 metres @ 7.49 grams/tonne, 78.3 metres @
2.01 grams/ tonne and 16.5 metres @ 3.08
grams/tonne. The company aims to complete
20,000 metres in the program with a fourth rig
contracted for delivery to the site during December
while the Bau Central definitive feasibility
study (DFS) for stage one production is
advancing on schedule.
Olympus Pacific’s CEO John Seton says,
“The Bau Central DFS continues to deliver
positive outcomes while concurrent exploration
continues to deliver exciting results
from within the Bau Central deposits with
strong analogies to Nevada’s Carlin trend.
Progress to date supports our expectation
that Bau Central start-up production will
commence in 2014 and that the Bau Goldfield
will ultimately become a substantial gold
producing district.”
Olympus has been aggressively exploring
the 17km-long Bau Central mineralization
trend since first acquiring the property in
2009. The Bau trend contains 34 known gold
prospects at various stages of exploration
advancement. The current JORC/NI 43-101
global resource stands at 2.45 million
ounces, comprising 560,000 indicated
ounces and 1.89 million inferred ounces.
Geological, geophysical and geochemical
studies, including surface trenching and the
diamond drilling programme are in progress
to further expand and upgrade this resource
and support concurrent mining feasibility
studies. A fully independent, internationally
accredited fire assay laboratory has been established
on site by SGS to ensure international
standard assay quality controls and
expedite sample turnaround time.
Exploration is also concurrently in
progress within the Jugan sector, where
trenching and step-out drilling is testing
open-ended strike and depth extensions.
Analysis of a DIGHEM geophysical dataset
has also revealed other prospective Juganstyle
anomalies coincident with positive geological
and geochemical indicators.
New facility will process palm oil waste
MISSION NewEnergy, a global provider of environmentally
sustainable biofuels, will build a
major waste material processing facility at Sandakan,
in Sabah state, East Malaysia. The plant
will be the first of its kind to recover palm oil from
spent bleached earth (SBE), a kind of waste
material that historically has no application.
The facility will allow Mission to recover
palm oil from waste material in the palm oil
refining process. The waste material, called
SBE has historically had no application.
Mission expects to begin construction of
SBE Solvent Extraction Facility in January
and expects it to be fully operational by September
2012. The plant will have annual capacity
of 66,000 tonnes The company has
secured agreements and understandings
with almost all the palm oil refiners in the state
of Sabah to provide a supply of SBE and has
received all necessary sanctions from government
authorities, including the Department
of Environment.
Mission Group CEO Nathan Mahalingam
says, “Mission is delighted to be working in
collaboration with the government and the
local palm oil processing industry. The facility
will reduce waste being sent to the landfill,
create jobs and provide Mission with a lowcost,
environmentally-friendly raw material to
produce biofuels.
“Producing biodiesel from this recovered
non-food grade waste palm oil provides Mission
with access to lower cost feedstock and
therefore increased overall margins. Further,
as a waste material, the greenhouse gas savings
are increased and hence viewed as
more desirable by the market.”
Mission has selected a proven technology
provider for the project while the construction
of the plant and civil works is expected to be
done through local Sabah companies. The
facility will cost RM30 million (US$10 million)
and will be funded with equity and debt from
a Malaysian commercial bank.
Palm oil refineries typically use bleaching
earth for bleaching and removing gum and
other impurities when refining crude palm oil.
In the process of refining, the bleaching earth
absorbs and retains some of the palm oil
which cannot be recovered in the normal refinery
process. Once the bleaching earth is
used, it is referred to as spent bleaching
earth, which is a waste material and traditionally
disposed of in landfills.
50 | ASIA Miner | January/February 2012