Antam awaits govt approval to cooperate with Inco

The state owned general mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) is waiting for a green light from the government to cooperate with PT International Nickel Indonesia (Inco) in the development of its nickel concession area in Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi, Koran Tempo reported on Tuesday.

Antam?s president Deddy Aditya Sumanegara said in Jakarta on Monday that Antam and Inco had reached an agreement in the development of the nickel concession area in Pomalaa. "The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement had been signed, but we still needs the government?s approval to start the cooperation.

He said that Inco would soon talk to the related government agencies on the mining regulation and a number of important aspects on the development of the nickel mining concession in Pomalaa. Negotiations on the development of Antam?s nickel concession area in Pomalaa by Inco had started in 2000 but due to some technical factors the agreement was only reached in the past several months.

Antam estimates that the company will receive additional nickel production of about 1 million a year from the cooperation with Inco. (*)