Construction works on the Martabe gold and silver mine project in North Sumatra, previously owned by Australian gold and copper miner OZ Minerals, is almost complete, with gold and silver production expected to commence by the end of March, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the mine's new owner, G-Resources, said.

The mine should have started operations in 2011 but the heavy rains in the Sumatra region hampered it from doing so. Its original owner, OZ Minerals spent about $285 million constructing the mine that started in June 2008. However, in May 2009, Hong Kong-based G-resources Group acquired 95 per cent stake ownership in the Martabe gold and silver mine project, for $220 million, from Oz Minerals.

Peter Albert, CEO of G-Resources, on Saturday said construction works on the Martabe gold and silver mine project is almost 76 per cent complete, noting some $450 million of a planned $576 million budget had been spent to build the mine.

The Martabe gold and silver mine project is seen as one of the more promising undeveloped mineral deposits in Asia as it hold massive but proven reserves of gold and silver, according to the www.mining-technology.com.

The mine, discovered in 1997 through regional stream sediment sampling, is a sulphidation epithermal deposit. Over the years, other deposits have been discovered. Resources at Martabe gold and silver mine project now stand at 6.73 million ounces of gold and 68.31 million ounces of silver.

G-Resources initially aims to produce 250,000 ounces of gold and two million to three million ounces of silver annually from the Martabe gold and silver mine project, with hopes to expand production to one million ounces of gold annually within the next five years.

"It is a very aggressive target. We are working hard to get there," the Jakarta Globe quoted Albert as saying.

The Martabe gold and silver mine project Contract of Work covers a 2,500km² area, most significant of which is the Purnama deposit, where a resource of 66.7 million tonnes containing 1.74g/t Au and 21.5g/t Ag representing a total of 3.7 million ounces of gold and 46 million ounces of silver has been defined by diamond drilling.

Agincourt Resources, local unit of G-Resources, has secured a sixth-generation contract of work from the Indonesian government. It will work on a 1,639-square-kilometer concession area on the western side of Sumatra, in the Batang Toru subdistrict of North Sumatra province. The location holds an estimated 7.86 million ounces of gold and 73.48 million ounces of silver resource base.

Once production starts on end March, G-Resources will send the mixed gold and silver bullion produced at the Martabe gold and silver mine project to Logam Mulia for refinement and then for sale on the international market. Logam Mulia is a unit of Indonesian state miner Aneka Tambang. Already accredited by the London Bullion Market Association, Logam Mulia offers refining services for a number of gold mining companies in Indonesia.

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