Apparently Rawas is partly owned by CAM Australia (via Weston Investments), which probably means the sale to DROOY is a done deal. Couple of old clippings on the Rawas mine:
paydirtonline.com.au
Laverton Gold - Brighter days (gold, Indonesia)
In contrast to the deteriorating situation in the rest of Indonesia, Laverton Gold NL has produced its best quarter on record at its Rawas
operation with output up and costs down. The 1 million tonne per annum mine produced 23,848 ounces equivalent at cash costs of
US257/ounce, with the cost reductions largely attributed to increased throughput, higher grades, and the devaluation of the local
currency. Analyst Ian Prentice, of stockbroker CIBC Wood Gundy, said costs are forecast to fall further to $US210-215/oz on the back
of higher grade ore and improved recoveries – the latter a result of a plant upgrade expected to be completed by late October. Prentice
recommended the company as a "speculative buy" late in July – when it was trading at 4¢ – saying the "stock remains high risk despite the
recent reduction in cash costs and the foreshadowed reduction in debt via the sale of 50% of Rawas". Laverton Gold announced in June
that it would sell half of Rawas to Weston Investments to reduce its debt, which post-sale should total about $3.5 million.
oberon.com.au.
11. Laverton Gold - Rawas joins the producers' league (gold, Indonesia) With the first gold pour from Laverton Gold NL's Rawas project in Indonesia last month, the company is getting on with the job of exploring its vast ground holding. The open pit operation has a mine life in excess of 10 years based on the current reserve of 3.7 million tonnes grading 3.06 grams/tonne gold and 41 g/t silver, or 415,000 oz of gold equivalent. Annual production will be about 75,000 oz gold equivalent. However, the company is confident of adding to this as it applies modern exploration techniques over its Contract of Work areas (CoW) this year. The company holds 117 square kilometres in one CoW, but has applied for two additional CoWs covering 1,600
sq km and 400 sq km respectively. The processing plant, with current throughput levels of 700,000 tpa, has been designed to allow for installation of a further ball mill and leach tank to increase capacity to 1.2 mtpa. Tania Winter, GMJ, Feb 97, p12 |
