G

-Resouces Group Limited, through its subsidiary PT Agincourt Resources, which operates the Martabe gold mine in North Sumatra, signed an agreement on Wednesday afternoon with state mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) to process its gold and silver at Logam Mulia, Antam’s business unit.

Under the agreement, Agincourt will send its mixture of gold and silver in the form of bullion to Antam’s processing plant to be refined into gold and silver with a high purity level. The finished products will be sold in the international market.

Logam Mulia is accredited by the London Bullion Market Association and provides refining services for a number of gold mining companies operating in Indonesia.

G-Resource’s CEO Peter Albert expressed his satisfaction with the agreement signing.

“The cooperation with Antam is one of several key steps toward preparing for production, which will start in the first quarter of next year,” he said in a press statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Thursday

The Martabe mine covers a total area of 1,639 square kilometers and is estimated to contain 2.2 million ounces of gold reserves and 29.7 million ounces of silver reserves.

G-Resources expects its mine to produce gold at a rate of 250,000 ounces per year and silver at 3 million ounces per year at a low cost of US$280 per ounce of gold.

Based on the company’s estimates, Martabe contains potential resources of 6.5 million ounces of gold and 66 million ounces of silver.

Bloomberg reported Thursday that immediate-delivery gold gained US$7.74, or 0.5 percent, to reach $1,675.88 an ounce by 9:18 a.m. in London. Prices are up 2.3 percent this week. Gold for December delivery was 0.5 percent higher at $1,677.10 on the Comex in New York.

Immediate-delivery silver rose 0.8 percent to $32.1425 an ounce. Palladium rose 1.7 percent to $605.25 an ounce, while platinum gained 1 percent to $1,545.53 an ounce.