General
Gold mines have been operating in Central Kalimantan for many decades both in hard rock and in alluvial river channels. Zircon and to a lesser extent rutile and ilmenite is generally associated with the gold in the river channels. This is not unusual as heavy mineral sands are often associated with alluvial gold deposits.
In 2005 Olympia became aware that a zircon industry was developing rapidly in Kalimantan and decided to commence operations in Indonesia. An Indonesian subsidiary, PT Olympia Resources Indonesia (PT Olympia) was set up in 2006 to conduct exploration and become involved in the zircon industry in Kalimantan. PT Olympia is 90% owned by Olympia and 10% by our Indonesian partner – Ali Susanto.
The zircon industry in Kalimantan evolved around local small scale miners mining and separating out zircon concentrate from old gold mining tailings using sluices. This zircon concentrate was sold to processing plants in China. PT Olympia’s initial operation in Kalimantan involved the purchase of zircon concentrate from these local miners in Kalimantan for export and sale to Chinese zircon processors.
In late 2006 PT Olympia decided to build its own zircon processing plants in Kalimantan. The first of PT Olympia’s zircon processing plants is under construction in Sampit in Central Kalimantan. Commissioning of the plant will commence in December 2007. A second zircon processing plant is being constructed at Bati Bati in Southern Kalimantan and this will continue in the early 2008.
PT Olympia will process up to a total of 48,000 tonnes per year of zircon concentrate in these two processing plants producing a maximum of 35,000 tpy of zircon plus lesser quantities of rutile, ilmenite, chromite and gold.
In addition to establishing processing plants in Kalimantan PT Olympia has an ongoing exploration program to find a substantial ore deposit. Olympia’s goal is to find a zircon resource containing over one million tonnes of zircon.
Sampit
Sampit is situated in Central Kalimantan and is central to the zircon mining areas near Pangkalanbun, Tumbangsamba and Kasongan.
It has a processing capacity of 15,000 tpy of zircon concentrate to produce approximately 10,000 tpy of zircon, 650 tpy of ilmenite, 400 tpy of rutile and 1,000 ounces per year of gold. At full capacity Sampit will produce sales revenue of approximately $10 million per year.
The Sampit site fronts onto the Sampit River, where the plant’s licensed wharf can accommodate coastal vessels of up to 3,700 tonnes. This allows bulk shipping of product direct from the plant to customers.
Alternatively, 19km by road from the processing site is the Port of Sampit, which has container loading facilities for shipping of bagged product in sea containers.
Bati Bati
The Bati Bati processing plant will be larger then the Sampit plant with the capacity to treat up to 38,000 tonnes of mineral concentrate per year, producing 25,000 tonnes per year of zircon as well as 2,500 ounces of gold, and by-product rutile and ilmenite. The sales revenue from the Bati Bati plant at its maximum production capacity will be approximately $25 million per year.
Exploration
PT Olympia’s program over the past 12 months has concentrated on mapping the distribution of zircon and gold in central Kalimantan, identifying areas of high exploration potential and securing exploration tenements.
PT Olympia has now increased the number of drilling teams in operation from one to four, and is carrying out a major drilling program in central Kalimantan which is scheduled to last for six to twelve months.
Last Update: 23-Nov-07
