Antam spends $556,700 on nickel, gold exploration in Q1

State controlled mining firm PT Aneka Tambang Tbk said it had spent Rp 5.37 billion (nearly US$556,700) on its nickel and gold exploration activities in the first quarter of 2002.

Antam?s exploration projects are located on Halmahera Island in Maluku; South East Sulawesi; Gebe Island; and Pongkor in West Java, the company said in its quarterly report released last week.

The firm explored for nickel in Halmahera, Gebe and South Sulawesi, and gold in Pongkor.

?Due to uncertainties related to the forestry status of some of Antam?s tenements in South Sulawesi, Antam reduced its exploration activities in the area,? said the firm which is listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange and an Australian bourse.

The government has yet to make clear whether open pit mining is prohibited in the country?s protected forest areas. Minister of Forestry M. Prakoso had stated the government would go ahead banning open pit mining on such forests as stipulated by Law No. 14/1999.

The firm said that in the second quarter its exploration activities would focus on gold exploration in Pongkor and Cikotok, also in West Java.

Meanwhile, Antam said its first quarter sales rose slightly to Rp342.96 billion ($36.8 million) from Rp338.92 billion a year ago.

It produced 2,158 tons of nickel in the first quarter, down from 2,433 tons the previous year. But nickel sales rose to 1,935 tons from 1,741 in the same period.

Meanwhile, its gold production dropped to 631 kilograms in the first quarter, a decrease of 30 percent from the first quarter 2001, due to excavating a low-grade area of the mine. (Leo)