Mining Intelligence and News
Indonesia

Pani Gold Project

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Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StageConstruction
Commodities
  • Gold
  • Silver
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
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Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotPani will be one of the largest gold mines in Asia Pacific upon achieving full design production capacity.

Feasibility study work confirms Pani Gold as a globally significant, long-life, low-cost, open-pit mining operation based on a phased development plan to maximize returns.

Construction activities for the initial heap leach operation are progressing, targeting project commissioning in late 2025 and first gold pour in early 2026.

The Pani Gold Project will require a low initial investment for the first phase, which involves building a production facility using heap leach (HL) processing. In the next phase, Merdeka will construct a Carbon-in-Leach (CIL) processing facility by the end of 2028.

Pre-development infrastructure such as site access roads, accommodation camps, mobile fleet maintenance facilities, and offices is complete. Bulk earthworks have commenced.

Pani orebody remains open and continued drilling is expected to increase the resource.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
PT Merdeka Copper Gold Tbk 70.05 % Indirect
Merdeka owns a 70.05% effective economic and equity interest in the Pani Gold Project through the ownership of the shares in PT Pani Bersama Jaya.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Epithermal
  • Vein / narrow vein
  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork

Summary:

Regional Geology
The Pani Project is located within the Tertiary magmatic arc of North Sulawesi. This magmatic arc consists of preTertiary basement metamorphics and granitic intrusions unconformably overlain by late Tertiary volcanic and related sedimentary rocks. These consist of Oligo-Miocene submarine volcanics and sediments and late Miocene-Pliocene subaerial volcanics. Plio-Pleistocene rhyodacitic to andesitic volcanics punctuate this stratigraphic package forming caldera dome complexes, dyke swarms and diatremes.

Local Geology and Mineralisation
The Pani Gold Project licence areas overlie the Plio-Pleistocene, rhyodacitic Pani Volcanic Complex (PVC) that sits within a large circular feature interpreted to be a caldera of 25 km in diameter. Basement rocks compose the Eocene Tinombo Formation oceanic basalts to the north and younger Miocene granodiorite batholiths to the south and underneath the PVC. Much of the PVC is made of a series of flow-dome complexes and un-subdivided pyroclastic rocks. Stratigraphic correlation within the PVC is problematic due to the repetition of pyroclastic rocks, lava flows and flowdome complexes of the very same composition. There are several dome complexes (Ilota, Paceda, Tomula) recognised within the PVC but only the Baganite Dome hosts major, bulk epithermal gold mineralisation. The Baganite Dome consists of the following main lithostratigraphic units.
• Lapilli tuff
• Baganite Dome, massive porphyritic rhyodacite
• Baganite Dome, flow-banded rhyodacite
• Baganite Dome, -related rhyodacite breccias
• Pani Volcanic Complex, rhyodacitic host-rocks to the Baganite Dome

A Geological Matrix Analysis (GMA) has confirmed previously reported observations that mineralisation is a low sulphidation epithermal mineralisation. Gold Mineralisation is associated with quartz ± pyrite ± goethite veins, silica alteration and goethite alteration and the tenor of the gold mineralisation increases as the silica alteration and frequency of veining or veinlets increase.

Local structures identified from field mapping are dominated by fractures, normal and strike slip faults with dominant orientations of ENE-WSW and NNE-SSW to N-S. These structures are moderate to steeply dipping to the west and appear to be a control on the mineralisation.

Alteration zones at Pani are differentiated based on descriptive mineralogy assemblages. There are 5 types recognised: undefined alteration/surface weathered (UA), clay ± chlorite (CYCH), clay ± silica (CYSI), silica ± chlorite (SICH) and silica ± clay (SICY). Mineralisation is associated with silica dominated alteration.

Gold mineralisation is associated with open space oxide - sulphide fracture fillings, stockwork veins, and narrow mosaic hydrothermal breccia within the dominantly silica altered host rock.

Silver domains were separated from gold domains. Silver mineralisation has no correlation, uncovered to date, with any geological parameters. It is assumed that silver deposited at lower temperature than gold in the periphery of the gold mineralisation.

Dimensions
The mineralisation at Pani sits between the surface and approximately 500 m below the surface. It is roughly circular in plan with a diameter of approximately 1,000 m and is contained within an intrusive rhyodacite dome complex (‘Baganite Dome’).

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

CommodityUnitsLOM
Gold M oz 5.3
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré.

Operational metrics

Metrics
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe
Stripping / waste ratio  ....  Subscribe
Ore tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2024 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
Cash costs Gold USD  ....  Subscribe
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Gold USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2024 study / presentation.

Operating Costs

CurrencyAverage
OP mining costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
G&A ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2024 study.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Pre-Production capital costs $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Expansion CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Gross revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
EBITDA (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe

Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jul 30, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jul 30, 2024

Aerial view:

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