•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

Mining company Newmont Nusa Tenggara forecast output from its Batu Hijau mine in West Nusa Tenggara to drop 33 percent this year, because the immediately available high-metal-content rocks have largely been depleted, but it will expand the mining pit

The miner predicted its metal concentrate outputs would drop to 326,000 tons from 488,000 tons last year, as Batu Hijau will temporarily rely on low-metal-content rocks from its stockpile to support output.

“This is Phase 6,” said spokesman Rubi Purnomo, speaking to the Jakarta Globe on Sunday. “We’re stripping the land surrounding the pit [to expand it].”

Open pit mines like Batu Hijau are dug in phases, with the diameter of the pit becoming bigger in each successive phase.

Most of what the mining process unearths are ordinary or low-grade rocks, which contain less than 0.5 percent of gold and copper, and they are stockpiled away for later use. While the expansion is underway, Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) will rely on its low-grade stockpile.

According to senior NNT engineer Syaiful Islam, the expansion would uncover new high-content material as early as 2013.

Wira Dharma Putra, chief metallurgist at NNT’s plant, said the stockpiled material would usually be processed in a mine dying period, suggesting that further mining of gold and copper is not becoming economical.

“But processing it now is a blessing in disguise because we can study the problems that may occur later,” he said.

The Batu Hijau mine pit is planned to produce in seven phases and is scheduled to be finished by 2027. According to an outlook published last month from Newmont Mining Corp., which owns NNT, Batu Hijau will produce 45,000 to 55,000 ounces of gold and 80 million to 90 million pounds of copper this year. Last year the numbers were 154,000 million ounces of gold and 137 million pounds of copper.

Last year, Phase 6 expansion was disrupted because of problem with recruitment — thousands of villagers demanding jobs despite only hundreds being available — as well as mining equipment permits and heavy wet weather.

“But the problems have been sorted out now. In fact, we will start Phase 7 in May or June, as the dry season starts,” said Syaiful last week during a Jakarta Globe visit to the mine.

NNT started mining at Batu Hijau in 2000. It is now exploring a new find at Elang, Sumbawa, 60 kilometers east of Batu Hijau. The company said Elang has more gold and copper than Batu Hijau, which has deposits of approximately 18 million ounces of gold and 18 billion pounds of copper.

Fifty-six percent of NNT is controlled by Nusa Tenggara Partnership BV, a consortium of Newmont Indonesia and Nusa Tenggara Mining. The rest is owned by Multi Daerah Bersaing (24 percent), Pukuafu Indah (17.8 percent), and Indonesia Masbaga Investama (2.2 percent).

Nusa Tenggara Partnership is still waiting to complete the $246.8 million divestment of 7 percent of NNT shares which is to be purchased by the Government Investment Center (PIP).

They have signed memorandum of understanding for the purchase but have not secured necessary documentation because of legal uncertainties.

The Finance of Ministry has announced plans to bring the matter to the country’s Supreme Court.