MDKA Discovers 2 Million Ounces of Gold Resources at Gua Macan Project

PT Merdeka Copper Gold Tbk (MDKA) has announced an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Gua Macan Copper-Gold Porphyry Project located within the Tujuh Bukit mineral district, East Java, Indonesia.

Gua Macan is located within the Mining Business License (IUP) area of PT Bumi Suksesindo (BSI), which is one of Merdeka’s strategic mining assets in East Java.

The project is fully owned by the Merdeka Group through its subsidiaries.

This updated Mineral Resource Estimate further strengthens Gua Macan’s position as part of Merdeka’s long-term copper and gold growth portfolio, while also providing further support for the evaluation of its open-pit mining development potential.

The latest Mineral Resource Estimate reaches 276 million tonnes (Mt), with average grades of 0.23 grams of gold per tonne (g/t Au) and 0.16 percent copper (Cu), containing approximately 2.0 million ounces of gold (Moz Au) and 430 thousand tonnes of copper (kt Cu).

These figures represent an increase of 70 Mt, or 25 percent, as well as an increase of 0.40 Moz of gold and 103 kt of copper compared with the previous Mineral Resource Estimate announced in December 2025.

The Indicated Mineral Resource category has nearly doubled to 217 million tonnes from the previous 112 million tonnes, reflecting successful resource conversion through the addition of 26 diamond drill holes and improvements to the geological model.

Albert Saputro, President Director of PT Merdeka Copper Gold Tbk, said that the updated Gua Macan Mineral Resource Estimate represents another important milestone for Merdeka and reflects the value generated from the company’s exploration strategy.

"Starting from an internally developed exploration target in 2023, Gua Macan has now rapidly developed into a significant gold-rich copper-gold porphyry resource, located near the currently operating Tujuh Bukit Gold Mine," Albert said in a written statement on Monday, 13 July 2026.

The Main Porphyry Zone is now the primary value contributor within the Gua Macan deposit. The zone contains approximately 110 million tonnes of resources with grades of 0.36 g/t Au and 0.23 percent Cu, containing around 1.3 million ounces of gold and 257 thousand tonnes of copper.

Although it represents only around 40 percent of the total Mineral Resource tonnage, the Main Porphyry Zone contributes approximately 65 percent of the gold content and 60 percent of the copper content within the Gua Macan deposit.

Mineralization at Gua Macan has been defined across an area of approximately 1 kilometer by 1 kilometer and extends from surface to a drilling depth of around 600 meters.

The mineralization system remains open at depth, indicating potential for additional resource growth as exploration activities and technical studies continue.

The updated Net Smelter Return (NSR) model further strengthens the geological interpretation by showing that the highest-value economic material is concentrated within a shallower and continuous coherent core of mineralization inside the Main Porphyry domain.

Merdeka plans to conduct targeted metallurgical variability testing to evaluate whether these characteristics can support improved metal recovery assumptions in engineering studies at the next stage.

The latest Mineral Resource Estimate has been classified into the Indicated and Inferred categories in accordance with the JORC Code 2012 and the KCMI Code 2017.

The Mineral Resources are reported within an optimised shell that demonstrates reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, using a minimum Net Smelter Return (NSR) cut-off value of USD 8 per tonne.

"Gua Macan demonstrates Merdeka’s ability to create value through exploration. Sustainable resource growth, supported by its proximity to existing infrastructure and ongoing technical studies, further strengthens the project’s position as one of the key long-term growth drivers within Merdeka’s copper and gold portfolio," he concluded.

Source: https://www.ntvnews.id/ekonomi/01110010/mdka-temukan-sumber-daya-2-juta-ons-emas-di-proyek-gua-macan

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