Antam seeks permit to export low grade nickel ores next month

Petromindo|Lucky

IDX-listed mining firm PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) hopes to submit next month request for permit to be able to resume export of low grade nickel ores.

The plan to apply for the export permit comes after the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources issued earlier this month technical guidelines for processing the export permit. The government in January issued a new regulation among others allowing miners to resume export of low grade nickel ores with purity of less than 1.7 percent and washed bauxite with purity of less than 42 percent.

?We?ve been learning how to get the export permit. Hopefully, we can submit the proposal by early April and obtain it within three weeks,? Antam marketing director Hari Widjajanto told The Jakarta Post recently.

Through the relaxation of the export ban, Antam will be able to reestablish its relations with its long-time traditional partner, Japan, he said. ?Japan has been our historic buyer since the 1960s. They have helped us a lot ever since and we?ve maintained good communications with them,? Hari said. (*)