martabe a goer

Oxiana halted yesterday for this announcement, yet no one here bothered to mention it.
Keep the faith guys, OXR will be worth it for the patient.
Cheers
Commy




28 April 2008

AUSTRALIAN STOCK EXCHANGE AND MEDIA RELEASE

FINAL APPROVALS RECEIVED FOR OXIANA’S MARTABE GOLD PROJECT IN INDONESIA

Oxiana has received the Construction Permit for its Martabe gold and silver project in Indonesia.

The Construction Permit, issued by the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources on behalf of the Government
of the Republic of Indonesia, is the final step in the approval process allowing construction of the Martabe project to
commence, with completion expected by the end of 2009.

The approval process for a mining project in Indonesia involves extensive liaison with, and approvals from, local
communities and provincial and national Government authorities. Oxiana is delighted to have received this permit
which meets the original approvals timeline set out by the Government of Indonesia in 2007.

The Martabe project will add significantly to Oxiana’s gold production with approximately 200,000oz gold and 2
million oz silver to be produced annually. Martabe will also be Oxiana’s first mine in Indonesia; a destination the
Company considers to be highly prospective, with exploration and development opportunities being actively
pursued.

Schedule

Receipt of final approvals now allows construction to commence shortly, with civil construction due to commence in
the fourth quarter.

Long-lead items for the project including the grinding mills were ordered in 2007 to expedite the schedule. Plant
construction is scheduled for completion in the last quarter of 2009 with commissioning and production of first gold
and silver late in that year.

Other project works currently underway include detailed design and planning for the new small-scale jetty facility
and access road and development of camp facilities.

Project Development

Engineering

Final negotiations are underway for the award of the Engineering, Procurement and Construction
Management (EPCM) contract with Ausenco Services Pty Ltd. Ausenco was the EPCM contractor for
Oxiana’s Sepon gold operation, and also one of the two contractors for the Sepon copper project.

The overall design for the process plant has been completed with detailed engineering now underway.
The detailed engineering phase and award of contracts for construction of plant components is expected
to be completed by end of June 2008.

Mining and Processing

Mining at Martabe will be via open pit using a mining contractor.

OXIANA LIMITED ¦
Respect – Action – Performance – Openness ¦ WWW.OXIANA.COM.AU

Level 9, 31 Queen Street T: +61 3 8623 2200 E: [email protected]
Melbourne, Victoria 3000 F: +61 3 8623 2222 ABN: 40 005 482 824 ASX OXR


The processing plant will be a 4.5 million tonne per annum capacity standard crush, grind, Carbon-in-
Leach gold processing circuit. The plant will process ore at an average head grade of 1.9g/t gold and 25
g/t silver over an initial mine-life of 9 years. Recoveries will average 76% gold and 55% silver. The facility
will be designed to enable future expansion.

Annual production is planned to be 200,000oz of gold and 2 Moz of silver as doré bars.

Over the life of the mine, total cash costs are estimated to be highly competitive averaging US$270/oz
after silver credits and royalties.

Infrastructure

Associated infrastructure for the project includes an accommodation village, administration buildings,
workshop, warehouse and storage facilities. Power supply options are currently being finalised.

A jetty facility, and associated on-shore facilities, will be built approximately 30 kilometres from
Martabe to allow delivery of construction materials and ongoing consumables for the operation.

Sustainable development

A major focus for the project will be maximising the benefits of the Martabe project which flow to local stakeholders
through the use of local Indonesian businesses, contractors, suppliers and employees wherever possible.

It is estimated that the project will employ up to 1200 people during construction and a workforce of approximately
700 people when in operation. 70% of these are anticipated to be from local communities and the majority of the
balance from elsewhere in Northern Sumatra and Indonesia.

Oxiana has already commenced pre-employment training programs (firstly in welding) which will provide vocational
skills and maximize employability of people from the area immediately adjacent to the mine. These programs will be
expanded as the project is developed.

A review of Indonesian based design, engineering, manufacturing and construction is underway. It is anticipated
that contracts for earthworks, concrete and structural steel and steel plate work will be let primarily within Indonesia
and other South East Asian counties.

Oxiana’s doré product will go through final refining in Jakarta before sale on the international spot market.

The project will be built to standards which are current best practice in the mining industry. This includes using a
detoxification circuit and wet tailing storage facility to minimize environmental impact of the project.

Financial provision for rehabilitation of the project area will be made from commencement of mining and mine
closure planning is underway.

Exploration

Potential for the expansion or extension of mine-life of the Martabe project is considered to be high. Martabe is part
of a large-scale mineralised district which has the potential to host further gold deposits.

Known Resources of 6 Moz of gold and 60 Moz of silver exist at Martabe. These Resources are mainly from the
Purnama deposit which will be mined first (4.4Moz) but are also derived from the Baskara (1.2Moz) and Pelangi
(368,000oz) deposits located close to Purnama.

Exploration is continuing to test and discover extensions to the mineralisation from the main Purnama pit and a


revised Resource model is currently being prepared. Exploration to the north and south of Purnama and to test
targets to the west of the pit is ongoing.

A new Resource model for the Barani deposit is also nearing completion.

Exploration in the larger 1,600 square kilometre tenement area has also now commenced. Close to Martabe the
Kejora and Gerhana prospects have retuned encouraging results in historical exploration which will be followed-up
in 2008. Drilling in the Kapur-Gambir area, some 30 kilometres south-east of Martabe has commenced with
historical results including 109.7metres at 2.7g/t gold and 55.1m at 2.9g/t gold.

About Martabe

The Martabe project is located on the western side of the island of Sumatra in the Province of North Sumatra, in the
Batangtoru sub-district (Figure 1). The project is established under a sixth generation Contract of Work (CoW)
which was signed in April 1997. The CoW defines all of the terms, conditions and obligations of both Oxiana and
the Government of Indonesia for the life of the CoW. The CoW is approximately 1,600 square kilometres.

The estimated capital cost of the development of the Martabe project is US$310 million.

The Martabe project enjoys the strong support of the Central and Regional Governments and the near mine
communities of Batangtorou. The project is currently 100% owned by Oxiana Limited, with the company due to
finalise an agreement which will see the local Government hold a 5% stake in the project – providing direct
economic benefits to the area.

Owen L Hegarty
Managing Director and CEO