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old miner J Resources Asia Pasifik announced Tuesday that it had secured up to US$275 million in syndicated loans to help the publicly listed firm refinance its debts and develop its processing facilities and was considering whether to issue a $300 million bond to develop new and existing blocks.

The company, in a published official statement, said it acquired late last year a syndicated loan amounting to $275 million from export financing agency Indonesia Eximbank, Qatar National Bank SAQ, Bank QNB Kesawan, Bank Permata and Bank ICBC Indonesia.

J Resources president director Edi Permadi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that a portion of the loan '€” not more than $100 million '€” had been used to replace an existing loan from CIMB Niaga and Indonesia Eximbank worth $135 million.

'€œWe decided to refinance the loan with a new one with a more competitive interest rate,'€ Edi explained.

'€œMeanwhile, the rest of the loan has been used up to finance processing facilities in Seruyung [East Kalimantan] and Bakan [North Sulawesi] and to expand gold production in Penjom [Malaysia]. All of the projects concluded last year.'€

As previously reported by Kontan, the company built two gold smelters last year, with capacities reaching 55,000 troy ounces (oz) in Bakan and 65,000 oz in Seruyung and each absorbing Rp 1 trillion in investments.

Furthermore, Edi said, the company also planned to issue $300 million in bonds to help boost reserves in its existing blocks and to develop new blocks.

'€œWe have obtained approval from a general shareholders meeting held in November to issue the bonds. However, we are still studying the exact time to execute the action as gold prices remain unfavorable,'€ he said.

The bonds, he said, would be allocated to boost reserves and extend the life expectancies of the Bakan and Seruyung concessions.

Edi said his company hoped to extend operations in Bakan to 10 years, from its current six years, and Seruyung to around six to seven years, from its existing life expectancy of three years.

Activities in Bakan and Seruyung were commissioned in 2012. The projects had total reserves of 265,000 oz and 160,000 oz, respectively.

The company is also looking to develop four new mining areas in Sulawesi, three of which would be operated by its subsidiary Gorontalo Sejahtera Mining.

'€œIn coping with low gold prices, we have to enhance the sustainability of our reserves. That'€™s among our strategies this year. We will also put efficiency at the forefront of our strategy,'€ he said.

Edi said that by the end of last year, J Resources managed to boost production to 223,000 oz, more than double the 100,000 oz wrapped up in 2013. The significant increase in production, he said, was a result of the operations on new blocks in Bakan and Seruyung.

Edi says that his company aims to boost production by around 6 percent to 237,000 oz.

The companies currently operate four mining areas, in Bakan, Seruyung, Penjom and Lanut (North Sulawesi). By the end of last year, J Resources'€™ gold reserves stood at 1.81 million oz while its resources amounted to 5.15 million oz.

The company saw its gold reserves go up by 610,000 oz, or around a 51 percent increase year-on-year, and around a 35 percent increase in its gold resources.