BlackGold diversifies from coal into gold

Singapore

LESS than six months after completing its reverse takeover to become an Indonesian coal mining firm, BlackGold Natural Resources is diversifying into gold mining.

With this move, the firm is also hoping to snag Indonesian businessman Johanes Budisutrisno Kotjo - a well-known figure in Singapore's corporate scene in the 1990s who was dubbed to have the Midas touch - as a shareholder.

BlackGold, in an announcement last Thursday, said that it is planning to buy Ensbury International for an estimated US$100 million, contingent on the valuation of Ensbury's assets being above this sum.

Ensbury holds five mining concessions over an area measuring 21,110 hectares in Central Kalimantan. This comprises a 1,7…