WESTERN Mining Network has executed a definitive agreement to acquire PT Grafindo Nusantara (GFN), Indonesia’s leading private graphite company which has 8 million JORC-compliant tonnes of graphite in West Kalimantan. The significant expansion of Western’s Indonesian resource base sets the stage for the company’s next phase of development.

AN extensive round of drilling at Asiamet Resources’ Beruang Kanan Main (BKM) copper deposit in Central Kalimantan has enabled the company formerly known as Kalimantan Gold to announce a 43% increase in total contained copper. The deposit, which forms part of the KSK Copper-Gold Project, now contains 887 million pounds or 402,000 tonnes of copper.

KINGSROSE Mining has agreed with each of its lenders - Michael John Andrews, Great Golden Investment Limited and Beaurama Pty Ltd - to restructure the repayment profile of the company’s loan facilities. The company commenced repayment of the facilities on July 31, 2015, with a total of Aus$1.8 million repaid to date.

INDO Mines has signed an agreement with Outotec to prepare a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the iron making facility to produce pig iron and vanadium by product from the Kulon Progo iron sands project in the Yogyakarta region of Java. The detailed DFS will provide a basic engineering design that is of a bankable standard with appropriate project capital and operating costs.

STATE-OWNED mining company PT Aneka Tambang, or Antam, has announced a new gold-prospecting and extraction partnership with Australia’s Newcrest Mining. The companies will share technical and legal resources exploring mines across Indonesia, including in East Java, North Sulawesi and South Sumatra.

SUMATRA Copper & Gold plc has obtained a US$5 million working capital facility for its Tembang Gold-Silver Project in South Sumatra in the form of convertible notes provided by major shareholder Provident Minerals Pte Ltd. The funds will provide additional working capital as the company boosts production.

BARISAN Gold has entered into a preliminary agreement with a prominent Indonesian group to jointly advance Barisan’s Indonesian properties. Under the terms of the agreement, the Indonesian group will take an 80% equity interest in both of Barisan’s Indonesian subsidiaries.

G-RESOURCES is selling its 95% stake in the Martabe Gold-Silver Project in North Sumatra for total consideration of US$775 million. The buyer is a consortium led by private equity firm EMR Capital, which has paid a US$35 million deposit.

THE Wetar Copper Project expansion on Wetar Island remains on track for commissioning and first production during the current quarter. Finders Resources says the expansion project will increase annual copper cathode capacity from 3000 tonnes to 25,000 tonnes.

DESPITE depressed coal industry conditions, state-owned coal producer PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (Persero) continues to seek growth through acquisitions and extra production. Along with increasing domestic needs, the company says demand in South East Asia as well as India, Japan and Taiwan will remain solid, as coal is far cheaper than other energy sources.

KANGAROO Resources has entered agreements with its strategic alliance partner and majority shareholder PT Bayan Resources which allow for development of haul road and port infrastructure. This work will benefit the adjacent coal mining activities of the partners in East Kalimantan.

INDONESIA’S second largest listed coal miner PT Adaro Energy is set to conclude deals for two power plant projects worth around US$4.55 billion in total. The first 2x100MW project will be in South Kalimantan and the second 2x1000MW project will be in Central Java.

AGREEMENT has been reached with a mining contractor to reduce waste removal base rates by 13% at the Delta Coal Project in East Kalimantan. Project owners PT Delta Ultima Coal (66%) and Altura Mining (33%) say that the successful negotiations will provide a long-term sustainable outcome for the mine.

Asiamet Resources has assembled an experienced team to deliver the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the Beruang Kanan Main (BKM) copper deposit in Kalimantan, Indonesia. Asiamet has confirmed that the study will be delivered by the end of the current quarter.

Asiamet Resources has received assay results for the final holes drilled in the 2015 resource evaluation program at Beruang Kanan Main (BKM) copper deposit in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is the final set of results required to complete an update of the BKM resource.

MINING was expected to begin by the end of the September quarter at Aus Asia Minerals’ Solok Iron Ore Project in West Sumatra. The company expected to have loaded the initial barge-load of material at Telok Beyer Port in Padang by late August bound for Krakatau Steel in Java.

ONGOING drilling by Kingsrose Mining of Talang Santo deposit at Way Linggo Gold-Silver Project has resulted in a 27% increase in contained gold over the 2012 resource estimate. There is also significant potential for additional grade upside with further drilling and mine development as the ore body remains open at depth and along strike.

DRILLING by the Ekhgoviin Chuluu Joint Venture (ECJV) of Aspire Mining and Noble Group at the Nuurstei Coal Project has intersected many thick coal seams. The ECJV intends to use results from the drilling as part of a scoping study for the project.

A DEFINITION and expansion diamond drilling program at Erdene Resource Development Corp’s Altan Nar Gold-Polymetallic Project aims to increase confidence in high-grade, near-surface zones. The program of about 1500 metres started on August 7 and results are expected before the end of the year.

KINCORA Copper is undertaking surface exploration, including infill mapping and geochemistry, around the Bronze Fox and Tourmaline Hill intrusive complexes in southern Mongolia. Both properties are not far from the giant Oyu Tolgoi development being undertaken by Turquoise Hill Resources, which is majority owned by Rio Tinto.