No 129 • APRIL 2022
FEATURE ARTICLE
Mineral Exploration and Mining in Sumatra, Indonesia—
A Historical Overview
Theo van Leeuwen (SEG F),† Jakarta, Indonesia
Abstract
Sumatra, Indonesia, has a long and
checkered history of mineral explo-
ration and mining that dates back
to prehistoric times. These activities
have been dominated by gold, involv-
ing both the local population and
mostly foreign companies. The first
documented mining activity was the
reopening of the ancient silver-rich
Salida gold mine in West Sumatra in
1669 by the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-In-
dische Compagnie), a Dutch trad-
ing company that for two centuries
monopolized trade between Europe
and Asia. The government of the Neth-
erlands East Indies initiated geologic
investigations and mineral exploration
in 1850, and private industry followed
30 years later. Between 1899 and 1940,
14 gold mines were developed, most
of which were short-lived and uneco-
nomic. Total production between 1899
and 1940 was 101 t Au and 1.2 Mt
Ag. During the Japanese occupation,
in its aftermath, and for the first 20
Introduction
This paper presents a historical over-
view of mineral exploration and mining
in Sumatra, Indonesia. Sumatra is the
world’s sixth largest island and forms
the southwestern margin of the South-
east Asia promontory (Sundaland). The
island is an assemblage of continental
fragments, which was derived from the
northern margin of Gondwana during
the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic. A series
of Cenozoic magmatic arcs is superim-
posed on the basement packages, run-
ning the length of the island along its
western portion. They form the rugged
Barisan Mountains, which are cut by the
major strike-slip Sumatra fault zone.
Several types of mineral occurrences
occur within the Barisan Mountains,
including low-, intermediate-, and
high-sulfidation (LS, IS, and HS) epith-
ermal Au-Ag, sediment-hosted Au, por-
†
E-mail: t_vleeuwen@yahoo.com
10.5382/SEGnews.2022-129.fea-01
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by Bradley A. Wake
SEG DISCOVERY
years of Indonesia’s independence,
there was very little activity. In 1967,
introduction of new foreign invest-
ment and mining laws by the New Or-
der government heralded a new era of
exploration and mining activity that
continues to the present day. Since
1967, there have been several peaks
in exploration activity, viz. 1969 to
1973 (porphyry copper), 1985 to 1990
(gold), 1995 to 1999 (gold), and 2006
to 2010 (multi-commodity). A variety
of previously unknown mineraliza-
tion types were discovered, including
porphyry Cu, high-sulfidation Au, sed-
iment-hosted Au, and sediment-hosted
Pb-Zn. Activity during the modern
area has included the reopening of one
of the old Dutch mines, development
of four new gold discoveries including
the giant Martabe district (310 t Au),
and exploitation of several small Fe
skarn deposits known from the Dutch
time. By world standards, to this day
Sumatra remains underexplored.
phyry Cu ± Mo ± Au, sedimented-host-
ed Pb-Zn ± Cu, and Fe ± Pb ± Zn ± Cu
skarn (Fig. 1). The more significant de-
posits are listed in Table 1 together with
their discovery year, resources, and,
where applicable, years of production.
Deposits discovered during the Dutch
colonial era have been documented
by van Bemmelen (1949), while van
Leeuwen (2018) describes more recent
discoveries and also presents a summary
of the tectonic and metallogenic setting
of Sumatra. A summary of Sumatra’s
mineral resources is given by Crow and
van Leeuwen (2005). This overview has
been modified and updated from an
earlier paper (van Leeuwen, 2014).
Since prehistoric times, the local
population has been involved in both
alluvial and hard-rock gold mining, but
their activities are poorly documented.
Better known are activities undertak-
en by European explorers and miners
during the Dutch colonial era (e.g., van
der Ploeg, 1945; van Bemmelen, 1949).
Between 1942 and 1967, a period that
spanned the Japanese occupation of
21
Indonesia, followed by a brief return of
the Dutch after the war and the first 20
years of independence of the Republic
of Indonesia, hardly any exploration
and mining took place in Sumatra. The
situation changed in 1967 when the
New Order government of President
Suharto invited foreign companies
to participate in the development of
Indonesia’s mineral resources. Since
then, mineral exploration has been
conducted more or less continuously
in Sumatra, albeit at varying intensity.
For this period, the “Modern era,” I
have drawn on the following sources
of information: unpublished company
reports, various trade journals, company
websites, the internet, written com-
munications from colleagues, my own
recollections, and published papers (the
only material cited and referenced).
Local Gold Mining
Ancient Chinese and Hindu manuscripts
speak of unbelievable gold treasures to
be found in various parts of Southeast
Asia. One of these areas was known
by its Sanskrit name, “Suvarnadvipa”
(“Island of Gold”), which according to
some scholars refers to Sumatra (e.g.,
Drakard, 1999), although others think
the name may refer to a larger region
in Southeast Asia (e.g., Bennett, 2009).
While textual evidence may be ambigu-
ous, there is plenty of physical evidence
to indicate that Sumatra was the site of
a flourishing gold mining industry in
prehistoric times. When early European
explorers and traders came to the island,
they found widespread abandoned
alluvial and underground gold workings.
The extent of some of these workings
indicates involvement of a very large,
organized workforce, and it seems
likely that Hindu immigrants taught
the native population the difficult art of
building shafts and tunnels. Larger sites
include Lebong Donok in Bengkulu,
where old waste material assayed 180 to
200 g/t Au (Hövig, 1912), underground
excavations in palaeo-alluvial deposits
beneath volcanic cover in Jambi (ter
Braake, 1944), and Salida in West Suma-
tra (Hoogenraad, 1934). In addition to
this physical evidence, there are many
 22
Mineral Exploration and Mining in Sumatra, Indonesia (continued)
stories, legends, and written reports that
suggest that gold played an important
role in the early history of Sumatra.
Artisanal gold mining took place
throughout most of the Dutch colonial
era, but was often a slack-season activity
for people primarily engaged in agri-
culture, increasing in intensity during
times of low prices of agriculture prod-
ucts like rubber (van der Ploeg, 1945;
Rueben, 1989).
After Indonesia gained indepen-
dence, gold mining by the local popula-
tion continued largely on a seasonal ba-
sis with the exception of the 1980s and
then from 2006 onward, when sharp
increases in the price of gold prompted
many people to carry out mining on a
more permanent basis.
Dutch Colonial Era
(ca. 1695–1942)
In the 16th century, knowing that Suma-
tra was rich in gold, the Portuguese ar-
dently explored Nias island, off the west
coast. They believed that Sumatra must
Fig. 1. Location of mineral prospects and deposits in Sumatra.
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by Bradley A. Wake
SEG DISCOVERY No 129 • APRIL 2022
be the location of the biblical Ophir, the the island suggested by old reports, and
site of King Solomon’s mines (Heidhues, by 1924, about three quarters of the
2006). The Dutch, with no experience island had been surveyed to a recon-
in mining, stuck to their traditional oc- naissance level.
cupation of trading for the first two and More than 30 years after the Bureau
half centuries of their colonial rule with of Mines commenced its activities, the
one notable exception. In 1669, the private sector also became involved, giv-
Dutch East Indies Company (Vereenigde ing rise to the first gold rush in Indone-
Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), then sia, with Kalimantan and North Sulawesi
the world’s most powerful trading orga- being the other main regions of interest.
nization, took control of the abandoned Between 1899 and 1940, 12 hard-rock
Salida Ag-Au mine in West Sumatra as and two alluvial gold deposits were dis-
it needed silver for the minting of its covered and developed (Fig. 2), includ-
own coins, but the mine was mostly a ing Lebong Donok and Lebong Tandai,
loss-making venture and closed in 1696 the only mines that made a substantial
(ter Braake, 1944). profit. Together they produced a total of
It was not until the mid-1850s that 101 t Au and 1.2 Mt Ag at high grades of
the Dutch began to develop an interest about 40 g/t Au and 230 to 420 g/t Ag.
in the mineral potential of their territo-
ry. A mines bureau was established and Modern Era (1967–Present)
given the task to explore for minerals,
1967–1984; not much to show for
coal, and petroleum, and also to carry
out geologic investigations. During the During the first 25 years after the war,
ensuing years, Sumatra was the most in- the only activity of note in Sumatra was
tensively investigated of the other larger the resumption of the Logas alluvial
islands in the archipelago. Initially, this gold-dredging operation, which had
was because of the mineral wealth of originally started in 1940. The situation
changed markedly in 1967
with the introduction of a
foreign capital investment
law and revision of the min-
ing law, which allowed direct
foreign investment in the
mining sector under a Con-
tract of Work (COW) system.
In Sumatra, 10 blocks were
opened for “general mineral
exploration,” and anoth-
er government initiative
established a cooperation
agreement with the British
Geological Survey consist-
ing of three projects, one
of which was the Northern
Sumatra Project (NSP; Page et
al., 1978). Regional geologic,
geochemical, and geophysi-
cal mapping programs were
undertaken with the primary
aim of encouraging mining
companies to develop Suma-
tra’s mineral resources.
The ten COW blocks
in Sumatra were taken up
by four companies (Fig. 3)
with porphyry Cu-Mo as
the main target, but results
were disappointing. Rio
Tinto found four porphyry
prospects; however, they all
turned out to be copper-poor
(Taylor and van Leeuwen,
1981).
 No 129 • APRIL 2022 SEG DISCOVERY 23

negative impact on exploration activity

Table 1. Significant Mineral Discoveries in Sumatra Since Ancient Times
Name Deposit type
Salido IS Ag-Au
Lebong Donok LS Au-Ag
Lebong Tandai (Simau) IS Au-Ag
Mangani IS Au-Ag
Beutong Porph Cu-Au-Mo
+ HS Cu-Au
Tembang IS Au-Ag
Miwah HS Au-Ag
Abong SH Au
Upper Tengkereng Porph Cu-Au-Mo
+ HS Cu-Au
Dairi SH Zn-Pb
Sihayo SH Au
Martabe HS Au-Ag
Ojajali IS-LS Ag-Au
Way Linggo LS Au-Ag
Talang Santo LS Au-Ag
Exploration came to a virtual stand-
still during the second half of the 1970s
due a lack of exploration success, low
commodity prices, and more onerous
COW terms introduced by the govern-
ment. The two companies that perse-
vered were Rio Tinto and Amax.
Between 1979 and 1981, Rio Tin-
to investigated the Tangse porphyry
Cu-Mo prospect in Aceh that had been
found a few years earlier by one of the
NSP teams, who spotted an outcrop of
altered, stockwork-fractured porphyry
intrusion in a road cut. Follow-up soil
sampling outlined an extensive area of
anomalous Cu-Mo values (Young and
Johari, 1978), and a scout drilling pro-
gram suggested the presence of a large
but low-grade porphyry Cu-Mo system
(van Leeuwen et al., 1987). The compa-
ny also conducted a helicopter-support-
ed stream sampling program in Aceh,
aimed at following up anomalies identi-
fied during the NSP survey and filling in
gaps. Several new weak Cu-Mo stream
sediment anomalies were detected, and
of these, Beutong appeared to be to the
most interesting. Here, a 5-sq-km area
of phyllic and advanced argillic-altered
diorite roughly coincided with Cu-Mo
in-soil and magnetic anomalies and
rock samples assayed between 0.1 and
0.3 wt % Cu. In view of the relatively
in Indonesia and worldwide.
Resource Some of the more notable events of
Discovery Production (incl. mined reserves)
this short-lived gold exploration boom
Ancient 1669–1735 >3 t Au, 98 t Ag include the reopening of the Lebong
1914–1928
2019–
Tandai mine, the discovery of (Bukit)
Ancient 1887–1941 3.2 Mt at 12.8 g/t Au, Tembang, and the identification of the
71 g/t Ag Way Linggo area as an epithermal Au
1901 1910–1942 2.9 Mt at 15 g/t Au, target.
1986–1995 155 g/t Ag
1907 1913-1931 0.9 Mt at 6.5 g/t Au, Following five years of rehabilitation
1940–1942 265 g/t Ag work and underground exploration
1980 509 Mt at 0.48% Cu, undertaken by CSR and its successor
0.13 g/t Au, 1.28 g/t Ag, Billiton at Lebong Tandai, production
120 ppm Mo
1983 1997–2000 11.8 Mt at 2.3 g/t Au, restarted in early 1986 based on re-
2015–2018 31.7 g/t Ag serves of 290,000 t at 12.2 g/t Au and
1990 104 Mt at 0.94 g/t Au, 87 g/t Ag. Development of the project
2.68 g/t Ag faced many challenges because of its
1994 8.5 Mt at 1.49 g/t Au,
10.7 g/t Ag remote location and difficult access that
1994 276 at 0.43% Cu, involved road, river, and rail transport
0.63 g/t Au (Pooley and West, 1986). Billiton with-
1998 20 Mt at 12.5% Zn. 7.2% Pb
drew in 1992, by which time 4.6 t Au
1998 23.4 Mt @ 2.11 g/t Au
1998 2012– 310.4 t Au, 2774 t Ag and 24 t Ag had been produced, leaving
1998 14.4 M at 0.73 g/t Au, its domestic partner to continue the
49.5 g/t Ag operations. The mine closed three years
1995 2010–2013 0.65 Mt at 8.66 g/t Au, later as it had become uneconomic.
2017–2020 52 g/t Ag,
2011 2014–2020 1.15 Mt at 5.92 g/t Au, Research of old Dutch geologic re-
13 g/t Ag ports led Rio Tinto to Tembang in 1983,
and detailed investigations between
1986 and 1989 identified a resource of
about 3.2 Mt at 3.2 g/t Au and 46 g/t
low grades and extreme remoteness of Ag, too small to be of interest to the
the area, the work was discontinued. company. Subsequently, Laverton Gold
At the time, Amax, then the world’s started mine construction in 1995 with
largest direct producer of molybdenum, an estimated resource of 13 Mt at 2.45
also followed up on the NSP results, g/t Au and 27 g/t Ag. The first gold was
as they included a few indications of poured in 1997, but the mine became
molybdenum mineralization. Their unprofitable in 2000 and closed the
approach was novel at the time and dif- same year after having produced 5.5 t
ferent from Rio Tinto’s utilizing a fixed- Au.
wing survey over the Barisan Mountains In 1989, Ashton Mining followed up
looking for features such as iron-stained high-order stream sediment anomalies
landslide scars. Only one small molyb- previously identified by MEM Gold
denum occurrence was found in Panton in southern Sumatra, but with little
Gajah in west Aceh, and the effort was success. However, 15 km downstream
discontinued. of the Way Linggo area, which had
returned only low-order anomalies, two
1985–1994; second gold rush pieces of banded quartz vein float were
and aftermath sampled. Although assaying only 2 to 3
In the early 1980s, a rapid rise in the g/t Au, interesting epithermal textures
price of gold and the introduction of prompted further work that led to the
more favorable COW conditions created discovery of the Semung Kecil pros-
a renewed interest in Sumatra, this time pect, 2.5 km east of Way Linggo, where
also from mostly Australian junior com- a well-defined Au-As-Ag soil anomaly
panies. In 1985, three third-generation was outlined coincident with outcrops
COWS were awarded, followed by the of siliceous sinter. While subsequent
signing of 20 fourth-generation COWs trenching and drilling failed to confirm
between 1986 and 1988 (Fig. 4). Some significant mineralization, peripheral
companies focused on old Dutch gold mapping found indications of mineral-
mining areas, while others opted for ized quartz veins at Way Linggo (An-
grass roots exploration. By the time the drews, 2013).
last COW was signed, the gold price had During the first half of the 1990s,
started to fall and stock markets world- exploration activity in Sumatra was
wide had crashed, which had a severe subdued and only two new COWs were

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by Bradley A. Wake
 24
Mineral Exploration and Mining in Sumatra, Indonesia (continued)
Fig. 2. Location of Au-Ag deposits mined during the Dutch colonial era with years and amounts of production.
signed, but compared to the 1980s
gold boom, this period was relatively
successful as several new discoveries
were made. In 1990, while conducting
a regional reconnaissance survey in
central Aceh, high-sulfidation Cu-Au
mineralization was discovered at Miwah
by a team of Highland Gold geologists
after tracing altered boulders for more
than 45 km up drainages to their source
(Williamson and Fleming, 1995). De-
tailed work, including 3,100 m of drill-
ing, was conducted between 1995 and
1997, outlining a mineralized quartz-al-
unite body with a mixed oxide-sulfide
resource of 100 Mt at 0.6 to 1.0 g/t Au.
During the same period, the company
drilled 20 holes at the Beutong pros-
pect, first identified 15 years earlier
(see above). Another regional sampling
program that met with some success
was in southeast Aceh by Rio Tinto,
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by Bradley A. Wake
SEG DISCOVERY
who while following up weakly anom-
alous Au, Cu, and Mo stream sediment
anomalies, identified porphyry-style
mineralization at Tengkereng as well
as sediment-hosted mineralization at
Abong, located about 20 km northwest
of Tengkereng. Meekatharra Minerals,
which in 1994 had taken over Ashton’s
COW in southern Sumatra, commenced
drilling at Way Linggo and completed a
feasibility study on the project in 1996,
seven years after the first indications
had been found.
1995–2005; third gold rush and
its aftermath
In the mid-1990s, the exploration scene
in Indonesia changed almost overnight.
The main trigger was a report of a huge
gold deposit at Busang in East Kaliman-
tan, which kept growing in size by leaps
and bounds. This time the exploration
No 129 • APRIL 2022
boom was spearheaded by
Canadian juniors. Due to
Busang, Kalimantan was
the main focus of atten-
tion, but Sumatra also
attracted interest. Between
1997 and early 1998, 15
COWs were signed (Fig.
5). Areas selected includ-
ed both old gold mine
districts, like Mangani and
Salido, and (semi-)green-
field areas.
By the time the last
COW was signed, Busang
had been exposed as the
greatest fraud in the history
of mineral exploration;
soon after that, Southeast
Asia experienced a severe
economic crisis and the
price of gold dropped,
and on top of that, Indo-
nesia became engulfed in
political instability. As a
result, the second explora-
tion boom fizzled out even
faster than the boom of
the 1980s, but even so, it
was relatively successful as
four significant grass roots
discoveries were made, all
located in northern Suma-
tra. Three of these were of
a style that had either not
been previously recognized
in Sumatra (sedimentary
exhalative [sedex] Pb-Zn at
Dairi) or had only recently
been identified (high-sul-
fidation Au at Martabe;
sediment-hosted Au at Sihayo), and
the fourth, known as the Woyla Proj-
ect, is characterized by LS epithermal
Au-Ag vein mineralization, a style that
is relatively uncommon in this part of
Sumatra.
By far the most important of these
discoveries is the Martabe high-sulfi-
dation Au district. A stream sediment
sampling program undertaken by a joint
venture between Normandy and Anglo
American using bulk leach extractable
gold (BLEG) techniques in a 600,000-
ha COW area generated a number of
Au anomalies. Follow-up mapping in
1996 identified mineralized quartz float,
derived from prominent quartz ledges,
that returned up to 20.3 ppm Au and
76 ppm Ag. Subsequent soil sampling
and mapping outlined a number of
prospects over a strike length of 7 km.
Helicopter-supported drilling started in
 No 129 • APRIL 2022 SEG DISCOVERY 25

composition, and proba-

ble metal source (Kirwin
and Royle, 2019). The
discovery was the result
of a three-year systemat-
ic regional geochemical
sampling program of a
large COW area. This
area had been selected
following geologic recon-
naissance combined with
lead isotope studies. The
initial concept was for
VMS mineralization in a
belt centered on an old
Dutch base-metal prospect
(considered by some geolo-
gists to have VMS affinity),
but the COW block was
subsequently also thought
to have potential for
porphyry and epithermal
styles of mineralization.
The Sihayo discovery
was the result of diligent
follow up of a weak BLEG
stream sediment anomaly
in a small stream. In 1999,
Pacmin Mining Corpora-
tion, who was the operator
at the time, announced an
inferred resource of 3.55
Mt at 2.7 g/t Au for the
Sihayo prospect. Several
other mineralization styles
were recognized in the
COW area in addition to
known base metal skarn
mineralization, including
Fig. 3. 1967–1984: Tenement situation and prospects investigated. porphyry Cu-Au, epith-
ermal vein Au-Ag, and
1998, and in 2003 a resource of 66.7 mineralization was also found in zones mesothermal quartz-vein Au hosted in
Mt at 1.74 g/t Au and 21.6 g/t Ag was up to 30 m thick within carbonates, metasedimentary rocks.
delineated at the main Purnama deposit interpreted to be Mississippi Valley-type The Woyla Project area in central
(Sutopo et al., 2003). Other significant mineralization and karst type with Aceh was selected by Barrick Gold
deposits are Barani, Rambing Jori, and abundant Zn and Pb oxides. Ten mil- because of its proximity to Miwah. In
Tor Ula. Since its establishment, owner- lion tonnes of indicated and inferred 1996, observation of mineralized float
accompanied by weak Au in-stream sedi-
ship of the COW company, Agincourt resources were delineated, including
ment anomalies and significant amounts
Resources, has changed hands several 7.7 Mt at 16.0% Zn and 9.9% Pb at the
of Au in-pan concentrate led to the
times and is now fully Indonesian Anjing Hitam sedex deposit. In 2002,
discovery of a new mineralized district
owned. a prefeasibility study was commenced
measuring 10 × 8 km. After Barrick’s
In late 1997, Herald Resources en- of the Dairi Zn-Pb project (Middleton,
withdrawal in the wake of the Busang
tered into a JV with the state mining 2003). scandal, Newcrest undertook additional
company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) Soon after the Dairi discovery, Aber- work in the late 1990s but withdrew due
to conduct reconnaissance for gold and foyle identified sediment-hosted gold to political unrest. The district hosts four
base metals. Massive sulfides rich in mineralization at Sihayo, hosted in vein systems, including Anak Perak and
zinc and lead, of apparently stratiform Permian limestones and interbedded Aloe Rek, which are characterized by
nature, were discovered in an outcrop in carbonaceous-calcareous volcaniclastic colloform quartz-adularia banding.
a creek bed in the Dairi district. Herald rocks. The deposit has many features During the first half of the 2000s,
recognized that the mineralization was comparable to the Nevada Carlin-type work continued at Martabe, Dairi,
a generic sedex style, hosted by black deposits but differs in tectonic setting, and Sihayo, and some work was also
shales and siltstones. Sphalerite-rich its shallow level of emplacement, fluid conducted at Way Linggo by a private

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by Bradley A. Wake
 26 SEG DISCOVERY No 129 • APRIL 2022

Mineral Exploration and Mining in Sumatra, Indonesia (continued)

near Takengon, the former
three ex-Rio Tinto. During
the following few years, the
main focus was on Miwah
and Abong, where several
drilling campaigns were un-
dertaken. In 2011, the com-
pany announced an inferred
resource for Miwah of 104 Mt
at 0.94 g/t Au and 2.68 g/t Ag
hosted in shallowly dipping
zones of advanced argillic
and argillic-altered volcanics
with included vuggy quartz
centers that carry low-grade
disseminated Au. These
zones are underlain and cut
by diatreme breccia bodies
with higher grades (Wong et
al., 2011; Mulja et al., 2020).
Little work has been done
subsequently while awaiting
a forest reclassification as the
deposit occurs in protected
forest.
In 2011, a new company
named Barisan Gold Corpora-
tion (BGC) was spun off from
EAMC, taking over the Abong
and Tengkereng tenements.
One of BGC’s first actions
was to estimate a resource for
Abong based on previous drill-
ing results (8.5 Mt at 1.49 g/t
Au, 10.7 g/t Ag). Between 2008
and 2014, EAMC and its suc-
cessor carried out intermittent
drilling at Upper Tengkereng.
Fig. 4. 1985–1994: Tenement situation and prospects investigated.
This outlined a narrow,
pipe-like body that is strong-
consortium, which in 2007 floated Cu equivalent deposit within a much ly vertically zoned over 1,100 m with
Kingsrose Mining on the ASX, but oth- larger mineralized envelope, but this porphyry Cu-Au alteration and mineral-
erwise there was no significant explora- did not meet the company’s minimum ization overprinted on high-sulfidation
tion activity. target size. It was, however, of interest alteration and mineralization. A resource
to Tigers Realms Minerals, who carried potential of 276 Mt at 0.64 g/t Au and
2006–2021; advanced exploration out additional drilling starting in 2011 0.43 wt % Cu was estimated (Hamid et
and mine development and in late 2012 anounced a maiden al., 2014). After several years of little
The price of gold and other metals resource of 505 Mt at 0.47 wt % Cu and activity, BGC sold its Indonesian assets
started to rise rapidly in late 2005, 0.13 g/t Au in a telescoped HS epither- to Indonesia-based Bumi Resources.
which generated a renewed interest in mal and porphyry system (Kusnanto Between 2009 and 2013, Paramount
Sumatra on the part of foreign corpora- and Hughes, 2014). The following year, Resources carried out investigations in
tions, albeit on a modest scale as rising the project was put on care and main- an area with known Cu-Au magnetite
resource nationalism made Indonesia a tenance; while a production permit was skarn deposits in west Aceh. They iden-
less attractive destination. The focus was obtained in 2017, its legality is current- tified 10 targets over a strike length of
mostly on known mineralized areas in ly being disputed in court by the local 60 km, several of which were drill test-
Aceh and southern Sumatra (Fig. 6), and community, NGOs, and Acehenese ed, including Panton Luas and Pinang-
like elsewhere in Indonesia, greenfield student groups with support from the pinang. The mineralized centers (Au-Cu
exploration became a thing of the past. provincial government. endoskarns, abundant hydrothermal
The first company to come to Aceh In 2007, the East Asian Minerals magnetite, with py >> cp veinlets) were
in this period was Freeport McMoRan, Corporation (EAMC; recently renamed interpreted to represent the very top
who drilled the Beutong prospect Baru Gold Corp) acquired five prop- of porphyry systems (Al Furqan, 2014).
in 2007–2008. The results suggested erties in Aceh, viz. Tangse, Abong, The project was put on hold in 2013
potential for a 50 to 100 Mt at 1 wt % Tengkereng/Ise-Ise, Miwah, and an area due to lack of finances.

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by Bradley A. Wake
 No 129 • APRIL 2022 SEG DISCOVERY 27

partner in 2016 after failing

to find a farm-in partner (van
Leeuwen, 2018).
The rapid rise in iron ore
prices starting in 2008 spurred
exploitation for magnetite
skarn deposits in various parts
of Sumatra, most of which were
already known from the Dutch
colonial era. The operations
were relatively small-scale and,
with one exception, under-
taken by domestic companies.
About the same time, two
advanced gold projects were
developed, viz. Way Linggo
and Martabe.
At Way Linggo, the first
gold was poured by Kingsrose
Mining in 2010. At that time,
the total mineral resource
estimate amounted to 0.71 Mt
at 10.24 g/t Au and 135.6 g/t
Ag. During the first two years
of operation, 2 t Au and 23.5
Mt Ag were produced, but
grade and production rates
declined; in mid-2013, mining
activities were suspended.
Concurrently with mining at
Way Linggo, exploration was
conducted throughout the
COW tenement area, and in
2011, the Talang Santo deposit
was discovered, located 7 km
north of Way Linggo. The
deposit is significantly larger
than Way Linggo but of lower
Fig. 5. 1995–2005: Tenement situation and prospects investigated. grade—1.66 Mt at 5.4 g/t Au
and 17 g/t Ag (June, 2013).
Other companies focused on south- metal mineralization at Sontang, a first Soon after its discovery, the project
ern Sumatra to carry out gold explo- for Indonesia, but none of these have was fast-tracked and production com-
ration, including Sumatra Copper & been advanced. Mining operations were menced in mid-2014.
Gold (SCG) and Finders Resources. suspended in 2018 as they had become In 2017, an open pit was designed
In 2006–2007, SCG obtained sever- only marginally profitable. Unable to to mine the remaining measured
al parcels of land, including the old restructure its debt and raise new equity, resource above the 1 Level of the Way
(Bukit) Tembang and Lebong gold mine SGC was put into administration the Linggo underground mine (pillars and
districts. Most of the effort was directed next year and was delisted from the ASX remnant ore). At Talang Santo, un-
toward the reopening of the Tembang in early 2020. derground mining was progressively
mine, where Laverton had previously In 2005, Finders Resources acquired suspended from late 2017 due to poor
mined only the main veins and discard- the Ojolali project, located in Jambi, ground conditions and the intersec-
ed lower-grade mineralization in haloes. which had been explored by another tion of a high-pressure aquifer. A study
In 2014, SGC commenced mine devel- company in the late 1990s. Ojolali was initiated to consider options to
opment, which consisted of dewatering comprises a cluster of 28 IS epithermal reengineer the underground mine
existing pits, construction of new pits, Au-Ag vein systems in a 20-sq-km area using modern mechanized methods,
and underground development based (McCaroll et al., 2014). Finders outlined while an open cut was developed to
on a mineral resource of 6.5 Mt at 2.1 indicated and inferred resources of 6.5 access high-grade ore remaining in the
g/t Au and 27.9 g/t Ag (Prasetyono et Mt at 0.8 g/t Au and 4.8 g/t Ag in mostly upper levels of the mine. Both open-pit
al., 2014). By the end of 2017, 8.7 t Au oxidized material with a low stripping mines were closed in late 2020, and the
and 128 t Ag had been produced, but no ratio at the Bukit Jambi prospect and processing plant was decommissioned.
additional ore had been found. Regional 7.9 Mt at 0.8 g/t Au and 167 g/t Ag at At that time, a resource of 850,000 t at
exploration resulted in several greenfield the silver-rich Tambang prospect. They 5.1 g/t Au and 13 g/t Ag was estimated
finds, including manto-type gold-base handed the project back to their local for Talang Santo with drilling continu-

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by Bradley A. Wake
 28 SEG DISCOVERY No 129 • APRIL 2022

Mineral Exploration and Mining in Sumatra, Indonesia (continued)

ing in the mine area aimed at
expanding this resource.
At Martabe, commercial
gold production commenced in
2012 from the Purnama open
pit based on a total resource of
207.6 Mt at 1.2 g/t Au and 11
g/t Ag, and other open pits were
developed at Barani and Ramba
Joring in 2016 and 2017, respec-
tively. The deposits are located
on hills or ridges, and the low
stripping ratios position the proj-
ect in the low all-in sustaining
cost quartile. The processing
facility uses a conventional CIL
plant with a 5.5-Mt capacity
designed to accommodate both
oxide and sulfide ore. Annual
production increased from 9 t
Au in 2013 to 11.9 t in 2019,
but dropped to the earlier level
in 2020 due to lower grades and
lower recovery.
Throughout the production
period, Agincourt has been main-
taining an active exploration
program (involving 15 diamond
drill rigs) aimed at converting
resources to reserves, identifying
and testing deeper targets below
existing deposits, and generat-
ing new targets elsewhere in the
COW block. By the end of 2019,
a total resource of more than 300
t Au had been identified, making
Martabe the largest gold-only
Fig. 6. 2006–2020: Tenement situation and prospects investigated.
district in Indonesia. An under-
ground resource was recently
established at Purnama, and potentially ever, being countered by growing op- Hutabargot Julu, and assessment of the
economic mineralization has also been position to the project by local villagers regional mineral potential.
found beneath supported by NGOs, who consider the The latest mine development in Su-
Tor Ula. planned tailings dam in this high- matra, while small in scale, is of histor-
While Martabe has been an outstand- rainfall, earthquake-prone area a recipe ical significance. In 2019, a domestic
ing success story, the same cannot yet for disaster. company reopened the Salida Au-Ag
be said for the Dairi and Sihayo projects. Between 2006 and 2013, the main mine more than 350 years after it
In 2008, Bumi Resources won control of activities in the Sihayo COW were became the first, and for a long time
Herald Resources, the discoverer of the drilling at Sihayo, which increased the only, Dutch mining venture in
Dairi Zn/Pb deposit. After three years of resources to 16.9 Mt at 2.6 g/t Au, and Indonesia.
intensive exploration, they announced exploration at Hutabargot Julu, which
a total resource of 25 Mt at 10.1% Zn is a large hydrothermal system located
Concluding Remarks
and 6.0% Pb, including 11 Mt at 11.5% 10 km from the proposed CIL plant at
Zn and 6.8% Pb in reserves, making it Sihayo with potential for bulk-tonnage Precious metals have dominated the ex-
one of the highest Zn-grade deposits disseminated Au and discrete high- ploration and mining scene in Sumatra
in the world. Forestry issues, a drop in grade Au veins of LS-IS epithermal style. since prehistoric times. To date, a total
metal prices starting in 2013, and a new During the subsequent six years, various resource of more than 861 t Au and
requirement to process ore domestically studies were undertaken culminating 11,620 t Ag has been delineated in a
were major impediments to the project. in a definite feasibility study in 2019 variety of deposit styles and 18 deposits
A production permit for underground based on a revised resource estimate of have been developed, four of them in
development was received in late 2017 23.4 Mt at 2.11 g/t Au. The same year, the last 25 years.
and soon afterward, a Chinese metal a three-tiered exploration program was Only four of the mining operations
firm acquired a 51% stake in the project. launched consisting of “near-mine” can be described as profitable—Lebong
These positive developments are, how- exploration, advanced exploration at Donok, Lebong Tandai, Martabe, and

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by Bradley A. Wake
 No 129 • APRIL 2022
Way Linggo/Talang Santo. Iron and
alluvial tin are the only other metals
mined in Sumatra, albeit on a small
scale.
It could be argued this is not an over-
ly impressive record, especially when
taking into account Sumatra’s large size
and favorable geologic setting. Howev-
er, mineral exploration activity, while
having a long history, was only intense
during a few short periods and targeted
mostly “classical” epithermal gold-vein
type deposits; other deposit styles with
economic potential were discovered
only fairly recently. In other words,
Sumatra remains underexplored.
Acknowledgments
Several colleagues have provided data
or helped in other ways, including Mike
Andrews, Michael Crow, Rod Jones,
Peter Pieters, Iryanto Rompo, Bronto
Sutopo, Michael Thirnbeck, and Brad
Wake. I thank them and also Jeff Heden-
quist, John Carlile, and Doug Kirwin for
their helpful comments.
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