Tembang Mine History

Exploration activity at Tembang dates back to the 1980s when CRA controlled the property. It was in production from 1997 to 2000, ceasing operations due to the weakening gold price.

The Tembang Vein system was discovered in 1986 by PT Rio Tinto. Pre-feasibility work was performed in 1992, followed by additional drilling in 1995 by Laverton. Open pit mining by Laverton commenced in 1997 for 3 years and produced 0.23 Moz of gold. Mining and exploration at Tembang was then suspended because the average gold price in 2000 was around US $250/oz, and Laverton’s average mining cost was US $278/oz.

Belinau had only just started mining at Laverton when operations were suspended in 2000, and there is around 1.5Mt of Belinau lower grade material stockpiled that has not been processed. Due to the low gold price at the time, Laverton only processed the high grade ore.