Merdeka Copper Gold to jack up gold production in 2018. Publicly listed mining firm PT Merdeka Copper Gold is aiming to produce around 155,000 to 170,000 ounces of gold in 2018, an increase of between 8.8 and 19.3 percent from its full-year production last year.
Publicly listed mining firm PT Merdeka Copper Gold is aiming to produce around 155,000 to 170,000 ounces of gold in 2018. (marketwatch/via tribunnews.com)
Merdeka, which is jointly owned by several tycoons, such as Edwin Soeryadjaya, Sandiaga Uno and Garibaldi “Boy” Thohir, began producing gold at its Tujuh Bukit mine in Banyuwangi, East Java, in March 2017.
The company produced a total of 142,468 ounces of gold last year, 43.1 percent of which was generated in the fourth quarter alone, with an all-in sustaining cost of US$425 per ounce.
“The planned gold production for 2018 is 155,000 to 170,000 ounces with an all-in sustaining cost of around $550 to $650 per ounce,” Merdeka said in a statement published on Monday.
However, the company has projected that gold production in the first quarter of 2018 will be substantially lower than average due to the short-term impact of extremely high rainfall during the wet season this year.
The Tujuh Bukit mine is estimated to have gold resources and reserves of 28 million and 2.45 million ounces, respectively. Furthermore, it also contains 19 billion pounds of copper resources and 79 million ounces of silver reserves.
Merdeka booked a net profit of $18.49 million at the end of the third quarter of 2017, reversing a net loss of $2.5 million in the same period in 2016. (bbn, Viriya P. Singgih, The Jakarta Post)
Taiwan Eyes Cooperation with Indonesia in Biomedical Industry 