Newcrest closes $60m sale of Gosowong mine in Indonesia

Gosowong gold mine, Indonesia. Image by Newcrest.

Newcrest (ASX: NCM) announced Wednesday the finalized sale of 100% of Newcrest Singapore Holdings Pte (NSH) to Indotan Halmahera Bangkit (Indotan) for A$90m, (about $60m) of which A$60m has already been received and the remaining A$30m is payable in 18 months.

NSH owns 75% of PT Nusa Halmahera Minerals (PT NHM), which operates the Gosowong mine in Indonesia. The move comes after Joko Widodo's government issued a mandate in 2018 stating that major mines such as Gosowong or Freeport-McMoRan's (NYSE:FCX) Grasberg have to be at least 51% owned by Indonesian companies.

The Gosowong gold operation is located on Halmahera Island, about 2,450 kilometres northeast of the national capital, Jakarta. It is a gold (epithermal) deposit with additional occurrences of silver.

The Gosowong mine produced 190,000 ounces of gold at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1,099/oz for the 2019 financial year.

Newcrest expects to recognize a A$44m loss on divestment of its 75% interest after taking into account the sales proceeds less written down value of the assets sold and transaction costs.