The news feeds on this site are independently provided by Adfero Limited © and do not represent the views or opinions of the World Gold Council.

Tuesday, 27th March 2007 (3077 views)

Oxiana - one of Australia's largest mining companies - has declared its intention to spend up to $300 million (£150 million) in doubling its capacity at its current Sepon copper-gold mine in Laos.

Situated in the Savannakhet province, south-central Laos, the Sepon mine produced 60,803 tons of copper last year, double the amount in 2005, but output of gold in 2006 dropped 13 per cent to 173,500 ounces.

According to managing director, Owen Hegarty, Oxiana plans to increase copper output from Sepon to 120,000 tonnes in the next two to three years, with further plans to expand into Indonesia through its takeover of Perth-based Agincourt Resources Ltd on the cards.

The Martabe gold and silver project in Indonesia will produce 300,000 ounces of gold equivalent once it starts output as soon as 2008, according to current managing director of Agincourt, Peter Bowler.

Speaking at a conference in Singapore, Peter Albert, general manager of Oxiana confirmed that the company was one of many mining companies trying to boost its gold output to benefit from the current rising prices.

Mr Albert also said that he was feeling positive, adding that the company had "a very health cash flow".

Referring to the expansion plans for the Sepon mine, Mr Albert reassured the attendees that it could source the money from the funds from its operations.

"We also have good access to debt,' he added.

 

« Back to Gold News stories