May/June 2013 - The ASIA Miner

Indonesia
DESPITE a minor delay in permitting, Sumatra Copper & Gold remains
on track to begin on-site construction activities in the second half of
2013 and has maintained its target date of 2014 for first production
from the Tembang Gold-Silver Project. Tembang has proven reserves
of 2.4 million tonnes @ 2.5 grams/tonne gold and 38.7 grams/tonne
silver for 200,000 ounces of gold and 3 million of silver, and probable
reserves of 3.1 million tonnes @ at 2.1 grams/tonne gold and 25.6
grams/tonne silver for 200,000 gold ounces and 2.5 million of silver.
Sumatra previously provided guidance that it was targeting the end
of March to secure the grant of the final forestry permit, or Pinjam
Pakai, for Tembang. The company advised in late March that approval
of the Pinjam Pakai was likely to be delayed by a couple of weeks
and set a new target date of April for approval completion.
As a result of a Ministerial Decree concerning a second amendment
of the Pinjam Pakai guidelines, forestry permits can now be granted for
the life of the mine rather than 5 years. In light of this the company has
amended its permit application to cover 10 years in line with the current
life-of-mine plan. Sumatra does not expect any delays to its overall development
timetable as this minor delay can be accommodated within
the current development schedule. It also remains on track to complete
the balance of its debt and equity funding package in April/May 2013.
The stage 1 Tembang production plan is a low-cost, high-grade
operation targeting 400,000 tonnes annual process capacity to produce
30,000 ounces of gold and 200,000 ounces of silver. Sumatra
plans to fund the stage 2 upgrade from cashflow, increasing annual
Sumatra remains on track at Tembang
throughput to 900,000 tonnes and production to 50,000 ounces of
gold and 500,000 ounces of silver. The ramp-up is expected to take
place over a 1-year period.
The Tembang Gold-Silver Project of Sumatra Copper & Gold is in southern Sumatra
with good surrounding infrastructure.
May/June 2013 | ASIA Miner | 45