Antam plans to increase stake in PT Weda Bay Nickel

Publicly listed mining company PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) is considering to increase its stake in PT Weda Bay Nickel, a fully owned subsidiary of Canadian listed nickel miner Weda Bay Minerals Inc, from the current 10 percent to 25 percent, Koran Tempo daily reported Friday.

The 15 percent portion to be bought by Antam was part of the shares of Weda Bay Nickel shareholder Strand Mineral (Indonesia) Pte. Ltd.

Weda Bay Nickel is 90 percent owned by Strand Mineral (Indonesia) Pte Ltd. It has a US$900 million nickel mining project in Halmahera, Maluku.

Antam?s investor relations manager Winardi said on Thursday his company had undertaken a feasibility study on Weda Bay?s project sites in Halmahera, and would decide whether to buy a stake in the firm after the study had been completed.

Winardi said however the feasibility study had been suspended in the wake of controversies over the development of protected forests into mining projects. The House of Representatives had yet to give a green light to the government to allow investors to resume their projects in protected and conservation forest areas, Winardi said.

Another official of the company said earlier potential reserve of nickel at Weda Bay?s project sites in Halmahera amounted to 220 million tons. The company expected to produce 40,000 tons of nickel and 4,000-5,000 tons of nickel-cobalt annually, he said.

Meanwhile, Antam said recently it had an option to increase its 25-percent stake in PT Gag Nickel Indonesia to 45 percent until 2005.

Antam is majority owned by the Indonesian government. (*)