A Search for Gold in Indonesian New Guinea

The Indonesian province of Papua is a remote jungle-clad region covering the western half of the mountainous island of New Guinea. Despite being relatively under-explored to this day,Papua is home to the greatest mineral success story of the 20th century. The Grasberg/Ertsberg minerals district atop the central dividing range contains the worldÆs largest reserve of both copper and gold (Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold, 2002). With large mines at Ok Tedi,Por gera and Lihir,and many well-delineated resources such as Frieda River,Wafi and Hidden Valley, neighbouring Papua New Guinea,the eastern half of New Guinea has enjoyed sustained exploration campaigns for gold and copper since the mid 1960s. The combined Grasberg and PNG exploration successes can be measured in terms of ounces of gold produced over the last decade versus available landmass,conf irming the island of New Guinea and surrounding islands as a world-class destination for gold explorers. Yet despite this obvious regional prospectivity and the profitability of the Grasberg operation, a sustained exploration effort in the Papua province in Indonesia has not been achieved. Periodic political constraints, poor infrastructure, high costs, operational challenges, social and environmental concerns and lack of immediate exploration success often impact exploration investment decisions. Accordingly a lesser number of mineral occurrences have been documented in Papua compared to those seen along tectonic strike in geologically similar Papua New Guinea.