MMG owns the Sepon gold and copper operations. Gold has been produced at Sepon since December 2002. In early 2005, an expansion of the original gold processing facility was completed doubling the capacity of the gold processing plant, to 2.5Mt/a, with a new crusher and mill allowing more flexibility and efficiency in the treatment of Sepon ore.
The Sepon project comprises a 1,250 square kilometres contract area located approximately 40 kilometres north of the town of Sepon, in Savannakhet Province, south-central Laos.
Key statistics
| Name |
Sepon Gold |
| Location |
Located approximately 40km north of the town of Sepon, in Savannakhet Province, south-central Lao PDR. |
| Product |
Gold and silver doré |
| Reserves* |
181,000oz |
| Resources* |
3.3Moz |
| Employees |
5,020 (Sepon Copper & Sepon Gold) |
| Mining Method |
Series of open-pits |
| Processing Method |
Conventional carbon-in-leach (CIL) |
| Expected Mine Life |
2012 |
| First Production |
December 2002 |
* as at 30 June 2008
Gold has been produced at Sepon since December 2002. In early 2005, an expansion of the original gold processing facility was completed doubling the capacity of the gold processing plant, to 2.5Mt/a, with a new crusher and mill allowing more flexibility and efficiency in the treatment of Sepon ore.
At Sepon several separate gold deposits and one copper deposit occur in a horse shoe shape within a five square kilometre area.
The currently defined gold deposits are Discovery, Discovery West-Colluvial, Nalou, Namkok West, Namkok East, Vang Nang and Luang. Gold mineralisation occurs as fine disseminations in highly altered calcareous sedimentary rocks with many affinities to the Carlin style gold deposits of Nevada, USA.