TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Avocet Mining is reviewing the strategic options for its operations in Malaysia and Indonesia, including a potential sale of the assets, and expects to make a decision by the end of the year, CEO Brett Richards said on Monday.

The company poured the first gold in December last year at its new Burkina Faso mine, Inata, and intends to focus all its efforts in West Africa, Richards said in a presentation at the Denver Gold Forum, which was broadcast over the Internet.

“We have embarked on a process to look at maximising the value of our South East Asian assets,” he said.

The company has engaged Standard Chartered Bank to conduct the process, has circulated a memorandum of information and received “several” expressions of interest in the last month.

“So we are proceeding with potential trade sale discussions with several parties that have gone through our due diligence process and we expect an outcome to this process by the end of the year.”

Avocet produced 97 747 oz of gold in the first half of 2010, including 51 063 from the Inata mine.

The company expects to produce 220 000 oz for the full year.

It also aims to double the gold reserves at Inata – which currently stand at 932 400 oz, by the third quarter of 2011, Richards said.

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