Banten, May 25, 2010 - PT ANTAM Tbk (”ANTAM”) (IDX: ANTM, ASX: ATM) is pleased to announce the operation of the Cibaliung gold mine today at Cibaliung, Pandeglang Regency, Banten Province, Indonesia. The operation of the mine was officially inaugurated by the Governor of Banten. Also present during the ceremony were the Temporary Regent for Pandeglang, management of ANTAM and PT Cibaliung Sumberdaya, and other officials. ANTAM’s subsidiary of PT Cibaliung Sumberdaya operates the Cibaliung gold mine, following ANTAM’s acquisition of the company from ARC Exploration Australia in 2009.
The Cibaliung mine is an underground gold mine and is operated with a combination of mechanised “cut and fill” and “undercut and fill” mining methods. In April 2010, ANTAM began the commissioning of the Cibaliung mine. Following the operation of the mine, ANTAM expects production at Cibaliung to reach 500 kg (16,075 toz.) in 2010 with full production of 2,000 kg (64,301 toz.). The Cibaliung mine has an estimated mine life of six years with gold metal reserves of around 12,800 kg (411,530 toz.).
The operation of the Cibaliung mine reflects ANTAM’s commitment to further increase its gold assets, in addition to its Pongkor gold mine in West Java. The operation of the Cibaliung mine also marks the realisation of ANTAM’s project pipeline in the downstream mining industry which includes among others, the Tayan Chemical Grade Alumina project, the Mempawah Smelter Grade Alumina project, the Pomalaa Coal Fired Power Plant project and the FeNi Halmahera project. ANTAM is currently accelerating the realisation of its growth projects to further augment the shareholders’ value as well as to anticipate the upcoming government’s policy of domestic mineral processing requirement in 2014.
