Antam mulls acquiring new coal mine

State nickel and gold miner PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) said it is considering to acquire a new coal mining asset, aiming at boosting its coal business.

Currently, Antam owns one coal mining mining asset, namely the Sorolangun coal project, the company?s Director for Development, Tato Miraza, was quoted by Kontan daily as saying. He said Antam is weighing a number of potential target acquisitions, but declined to disclose any further details.

He said Sorolangun has coal reserves of about 15 million tons, which is expected to be depleted in eight years. This year, Antam targets to mine 700,000 tons of coal in Sorolangun coal project. However, in the first nine months, the company mined only 300,000 tons of coal, less than half of its full year target.

The coal from Sorolangun is sold to China and India, with average price of US$38-40 per ton. In the first semester, Antam sold 194,263 tons of coal worth Rp26.2 billion. Antam develops the coal project through its subsidiary, PT Indonesia Coal Resources. (*)