Indonesia’s Merdeka starts mining at Pani gold project

Indonesian gold producer PT Merdeka Gold Resources on Wednesday began mining at its Pani gold project following the company’s 4.66 trillion rupiah ($280.7 million) initial public offering last month.

The Pani mine has more than 7 million ounces of resources, Merdeka said in a statement. The company aims to produce 140,000 ounces of gold annually at the project in the early phase of its development.

Production from the mine, located in Gorontalo on Sulawesi island, is expected to peak at 500,000 ounces per year, the company said.

The company in September sold a 10% stake in an IPO at 2,880 rupiah a share, taking advantage of rising gold demand. Its shares were traded at 4,000 rupiah on Wednesday.

($1 = 16,600.0000 rupiah)

(By Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Jan Harvey)