Introduction
The Wetar Copper Project was acquired by Finders, in cooperation with its Indonesian partner, PT Batutua Kharisma Permai (“BKP”), by means of an Exploration KP licence granted in December 2004.
Finders currently holds a 72.4% interest in the project, held through an Australian incorporated company, Banda Minerals Pty Ltd (“Banda”). Finders is earning increasing equity through sole funding work on the project.
The Wetar deposits were discovered by CSR Ltd during a regional exploration program in 1986. The holding company for the then Contract of Work was sold to Billiton Indonesia BV (“BMI”) in 1988. BMI carried out extensive drilling comprising 513 holes for 10,500 meters to define
gold-silver mineralisation at two main deposits;
Kali Kuning, located around 3km from the coast at elevations of around 150m, and
Lerokis, located around 6km from the coast at around 500m above sea level.
BMI discovered copper mineralization immediately underlying the gold ore in both deposits and a smaller satellite deposit was also discovered at Meron, around 2km east of Kali Kuning.
Gold-silver-barite ores were mined by BMI from shallow open pits at Lerokis and Kali Kuning over the period 1990-1997.
Based on the previous drilling data and 73 new diamond drilled holes by Finders, Kali Kuning and Lerokis have independently estimated Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources of
9.8 million tonnes, grading 2.5% Cu and 0.7 g/t Au, using a 0.5% Cu cut-off grade.
The deposits are mineable by low strip ratio open pits and benefit from having a coastal location. Additional copper and gold mineralisation exists at Meron, and rights to three additional exploration Tenements were acquired by Finders in October 2006, covering known occurrences of similar style copper-gold mineralization on the south coast of Wetar Island.
Project Location
The Wetar Copper project is located on the north coast of the largely uninhabited Wetar Island, in the Mollucas Province of the Republic of Indonesia. Access is via a boat trip from neighbouring islands, either Alor or West Timor, both of which have direct air connections to the major city of Kupang (which is serviced by regular flights both to Jakarta and to Darwin).
