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Batang Toru, North Sumatra. G-Resources, which controls the Martabe gold and silver mine in North Sumatra through its local unit, Agincourt Resources, says it is confident production will begin by the end of March.

CEO Peter Albert said on Saturday that construction on the mine was 76 percent finished.

He said they had spent $450 million of a planned budget of $576 million to develop the mine, which G-Resources acquired in 2009 from Australian gold and copper miner OZ Minerals for $220 million.

“It is a very aggressive target. We are working hard to get there,” Albert said

With Martabe as its core starter asset, the Hong Kong-listed company expects to join the ranks of large, foreign-owned gold miners operating in Indonesia in the next few years.

G-Resources has set an initial target of turning Martabe into an operation producing 250,000 ounces of gold and two million to three million ounces of silver annually. However, it hopes that within five years the mine will be producing one million ounces of gold annually.

Agincourt has secured a sixth- generation contract of work with the Indonesian government for a 1,639-square-kilometer concession area located on the western side of Sumatra, in the Batang Toru subdistrict of North Sumatra province.

The location has an estimated resource base of 7.86 million ounces of gold and 73.48 million ounces of silver.

Syahrul M. Pasaribu, the head of South Tapanuli district, said the massive spending by the company since 2009 had benefited the local economy.

He said the amount of money circulating in the region had increased, and that people could now afford to buy more things.

G-Resources currently employs more than 860 local people, equivalent to 42 percent of the total work force. The company said in a statement that it was aiming to increase the proportion of local workers to 70 percent.

“I have seen it myself. Women in our villages can now operate those big mining trucks,” said Syahrul, whose district has an income of just Rp 22 billion ($2.4 million) a year.

G-Resources has engaged mining contractor Leighton Indonesia to provide a recruitment, training and development program to teach women to drive heavy trucks, a rare practice in the mining industry.

G-Resources is not obliged to divest ownership to Indonesian parties, though it has said it will give a 5 percent stake to local governments, including at the provincial and district level.

Albert said in an interview with the Jakarta Globe last year that the Martabe project was supported by well-rounded infrastructure in the area, making operating costs relatively low.

Also, the Martabe mine is located just 40 kilometers from the port town of Sibolga, and a 230-megawatt coal-fired power plant has been operating just eight kilometers from the project site.

G-Resources secured a deal with state utility company Perusahaan Listrik Negara to provide electricity to the mine.

Martabe is also adjacent to the Trans-Sumatran Highway. Additionally, the mine is supported by two local airstrips used by commercial carriers and the company’s own air charter service.

The G-Resources Group has also entered into a refining agreement with Aneka Tambang.

Logam Mulia, a unit of the state miner, will refine gold and silver bullion from Agincourt.

It has been accredited by the London Bullion Market Association and provides refining services for a number of gold mining companies in Indonesia.

Once production starts, G-Resources will send mixed gold and silver bullion produced at the Martabe mine to Logam Mulia for refinement and then for sale on the international market.

G-Resources announced last year that Agincourt had secured a $100 million standby loan for the Martabe mine project from three foreign lenders: BNP Paribas, Hang Seng Bank Limited and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

“G-Resources has arranged the standby facility for project capital purposes if required — and for working capital and general corporate needs,” the company said in a statement issued on Dec. 5.

The company in late October said it had some $242 million in cash and liquid assets.