Following a three-month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Baru Gold said it has received an upgrade to its production licence for the Sangihe gold project in Indonesia.

The upgrade licence was issued by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MoEMR) and was applied to the mine’s contract of work.

“This licence provides Baru … with the rights to operate precious metal mines on 42,000 hectares on Sangihe Island, of which only 10% of the area has been geologically explored to date,” said officials for the company.

“Exploration will be upgraded through a resource development drilling program and will be expanded to other areas of the CoW once production cashflow has been initiated.”

While waiting for the licence upgrade, Baru crews fast-tracked heap leach construction, mobilised its mining team to the site, started hiring local residents for construction and production positions, identified land acquisition targets, and took steps to mitigate any environmental impacts.

Baru noted that it will be proceeding to production without a feasibility study-supported mineral reserve estimate.

Sangihe’s existing CoW licence outlined a 30-year production allowance; under the recently issued 2020 mining regulations, it may be extended for two more decades.

“This CoW production status upgrade also gives the company rights for refinery and export licences,” Baru noted.

Sangihe is located on the island of Sangihe off the northern coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia, between the northern tip of Sulawesi Island (Indonesia) and southern tip of Mindanao (Philippines). Baru Gold was formerly known as East Asia Minerals.

Source: eastasiaminerals.com