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J Resources to develop two gold mines in North Sulawesi
Publicly listed gold mining company PT J Resources Asia Pasifik plans to develop two gold mining sites in Pani and Doup, both in North Sulawesi, with total estimated reserves of 1
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span>Publicly listed gold mining company PT J Resources Asia Pasifik plans to develop two gold mining sites in Pani and Doup, both in North Sulawesi, with total estimated reserves of 1.4 million ounces.
J Resources Asia Pasifik director William Surnata said recently that the mine development in Doup would cost around US$200 million and in Pani around $100 million.
“We are currently exploring options for funding. We may raise funds by holding a rights issue or sell bonds, get bank loans or look for a partnership,” William said in Jakarta, adding that his company had received an offer from a Chinese company to establish a vendor financing partnership.
In April, J Resources obtained approval from its shareholders to issue 20.13 billion shares with the aim of generating $300 million for the development of the mines.
William said the company aimed to make a decision on the funding method in the third quarter, so that it could start construction next year and begin operations by 2019.
“We expect the development in Pani to be finished by the end of 2018 and Doup by March 2019.”
Doup has estimated reserves of 1.2 million ounces, while Pani’s stands at 200,000 ounces.
Besides Pani and Doup, J Resources controls six mines, four of which — Lanud and Bakan in North Sulawesi, Seruyung in North Kalimantan and Penjom in Malaysia- are fully operational.
The two others that are located in Bulangidun and Bolangitan in North Sulawesi have yet to
be developed.
According to J Resources, the proven gold reserves in its eight mines, after being further explored, grew 59 percent to 3.13 million ounces in 2016 from 1.97 million ounces in 2015, out of their total estimated resources of 7.02 million ounces.
“We are confident that we can have more than 10 million ounces in proven reserves because [our exploration shows] that they keep increasing,” William said.
The company states in a report that its mines have a total capacity to produce 200,000 ounces of gold per annum. With such a rate of production, they will be able to operate for 15 years.
J Resources produced 70,000 ounces of gold in the first five months of the year. “As we are approaching the rainy season, our production will not be optimal due to the safety issue,” William said.
The report also says its net profit decreased 25.6 percent year-on-year to $22.3 million in 2016, in line with the 17.96 percent annual decrease of its sales to $235.1 million last year.
J Resources is listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange under the code PSAB. (dis)
