May/June 2013 - The ASIA Miner

Myanmar
Centurion secures Ba Mauk concession
CENTURION Minerals has signed a memorandum of understanding
(MOU) with Eternal Gold Mining to explore and develop the Ba Mauk
Gold Project in Sagaing Division of central Myanmar. Eternal is one of
the largest private Myanmar gold mining producers and operates multiple
gold mines and exploration projects in the nation.
Under the terms of the MOU, Centurion will act as operator and
The geology of Myanmar, which shows plenty of potential for mineral resource development.
oversee the exploration activities and assessment of the resource potential
of the 8900 hectare Ba Mauk project, which is in the northern
tip of the north-trending, western volcano-plutonic belt that hosts the
highest concentration of gold mines and prospects in Myanmar.
Gold mineralization at Ba Mauk that occurs within massive pyritequartz
tension vein arrays has to date been reported to occur within
10 underground tunnels. The adits range from 40 metres to 140 metres
in depth and encompass an area about 1000 metres-long by 300
metres-wide. Current exploration is reported to be expanding the
northern and southern extensions of the mineralization.
Meantime, the company’s local partner, Crown Mineral Co, has confirmed
that two mining exploration concession applications and associated
land packages have been accepted for processing by the
Myanmar Mining Ministry. The mineral concessions were applied for
on the basis of: Centurion 80% and Crown 20%.
The Slate Belt gold concession is south of Mandalay and covers an
area of about 103,000 hectares. It is bordered by Modi Taung gold
mine in the south and Lebyin gold and polymetallic mines in the east.
In the late 1990s to early 2000s, the area was part of Ivanhoe Mines’
Block 10. Historical exploration work by Ivanhoe yielded a number of
prospects and anomalies which may assist the company’s exploration
efforts in early identification of priority exploration targets.
The Bandi concession is north of Mandalay and is about 100,000
hectares in size. The area is flanked by two operating gold mines, one
of which is the Phayaung Taung mine to the south. A recent geological
map shows that the concession area consists of intrusion and associated
marls and other rock types, all of which are cut by north-trending
structures. Adjacent gold skarn deposits are reportedly
controlled by structures striking northward as well.
Antam and Bukit Asam set to explore
INDONESIAN company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) aims to start
gold exploration in Myanmar this year after obtaining a licence from
the country’s government. The announcement follows a statement by
Minister of SOE Dahlan Iskan that Antam is one of Indonesia’s stateowned
enterprises that will expand into the country.
Antam will not solely manage the operation but will cooperate with
local partners, however, the SOE is yet to assign another party and is
still actively communicating with authorities. “We are conducting a
survey for the area we will explore. The gold mine concession already
exists with the permissions recently administered,” says Antam’s president
director Alwinsyah Lubis. “We have not met any local partner
as we are still discussing with their government.”
Although mining exploration requires at least 5 years and results may
or may not eventuate, he says the company’s exploration will still be
done seeing that its business is as a precious metal miner. He says this
must be carried out even though Myanmar claims that the area is productive.
The exploration budget for Myanmar has not been included in
Antam’s exploration financial plan for 2013. Last year the company spent
Rp90 billion on exploration and this year has set aside Rp6 trillion for
capital expenditure as it seeks to push ahead with a domestic nickel expansion
in Southeast Sulawesi as well as the plans in Myanmar.
Meantime, Indonesian state-controlled Bukit Asam has set aside
$80 million to expand its business into Myanmar, joining a string of
firms jostling for a slice of the South East Asian nation’s burgeoning
economy. The company plans to build a mine-mouth coal-fired power
plant in Myanmar, which will become the biggest of its kind in the
country. The project has a capacity of 2x200 megawatts.
Bukit Asam sells 45% of the coal it produces to overseas buyers,
including those in Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam. Based in Muara Enim,
South Sumatra, the company has plans to develop infrastructure for
its Indonesian coal mines. In October 2012, Bukit Asam said that it
had budgeted around $580 million over the next four years to build
infrastructure facilities to support its core business. It laid out plans to
develop two mine-mouth coal-fired power plants in Sumatra with a
combined capacity of 1460 megawatts.
Myanmar’s main coal resources are in the central region in about a
dozen small fields dotted around Mandalay. There has not been a detailed
geological survey for years and estimates of reserves range from
the Ministry of Energy’s 270 million tonnes to 750 million tonnes suggested
by the US’s Energy Information Agency.
40 | ASIA Miner | May/June 2013