3 national companies licensed to mine for coal in East Kalimantan
Wednesday, January 17 2001 - 04:00 AM WIB
Three national companies have secured coal mining licenses (PKP2B) of fourth generation to mine for coals in a total acreage of 103,892 hectares in East Kalimantan, according to the coal director at the Directorate General of General Mining at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
Director Suyartono said on Tuesday (Jan 16) that the three national companies were PT Bumi Sukses Mandiri with concession area of 56,830 hectares in Berau district, PT Kurnia Sarana Lestari with concession area of 26,682 hectares also in Berau and PT Mahakam Sumber Jaya with 20,380 hectares in Kutai district.
Suyartono said the concession areas for Bumi Sukses Mandiri and Kurnia Sarana were all new areas, while that of Mahakam was known as Separi Santan coal block, that used to belong to coal mining giant PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), that was transferred to local administrations. The East Kalimantan governor then appointed East Kalimantan administration-controlled Bara Kaltim Sejahtera to partner with PT Mahakam to exploit for coal in ex-KPC concession area.
Suyartono explained the PKP2B licenses for the three companies were signed the minister of energy and mineral resources on Dec. 29, 2000. The minister signed the licenses after the three companies received approval letters from the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) on Dec. 26.
He noted that the three companies were among 20 companies offered by the government to file for PKP2B. But only those three companies were really serious in pursuing the PKP2B, by meeting all the requirements set by BKPM and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Affairs. With the licensing of the three companies, Suyartono revealed, currently there are 112 companies licensed with PKP2B (of first generation until fourth generation) to mine for coal, of which 20 companies are foreign investment companies and the remaining are national companies. Of the total 112 companies licensed with PKP2B, only 19 companies have really produced coal. The 19 companies altogether produced a total of 76 million tons of coal in 2000, a small increase from 73 million tons recorded in 1999. (*)