The Awak Mas gold project is located in the Province of South
Sulawesi, Republic of Indonesia. It is situated 300 km by road
north of the provincial capital of Ujung Pandang. The capital is
readily accessible by air from Australia via Denpasar on Bali or
the Indonesian capital, Jakarta (Figure 1). Elevations at Awak Mas range from 850 to 1400 metres above
sea level in reasonably rugged terrain. The area is covered by
primary and secondary (regrowth) rain forest. The region is
subject to an equatorial-type tropical climate. The annual rainfall
is a high 3000 mm most of which falls in the rainy season
between March and June. In the lower valleys rice, cloves and
chocolate crops are cultivated. Title to the project area is secured by a Contract of Work
(COW) issued to PT Masmindo Eka Sakti (MES) on 23 October
1987 by the Government of Indonesia. MES was controlled at the
time by New Hope Industries group of Brisbane. After New Hope
had completed initial reconnaissance exploration of the area,
Battle Mountain Gold Company (BMGC) farmed-in in 1991 and
earned a 60 per cent beneficial interest in MES.