Antam suffers loss of 2 tons of gold due to illegal mining

PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) has suffered a loss of at least two tons of gold for the last seven years due to massive illegal mining activities in its gold concession areas, according to the company's president Aditya Sumanegara.

The illegal mining activities, which hit almost all mine areas in the country, had also caused the closure of at least 30 mining companies, he said at the sideline of the annual congress of the association of mining experts in Jakarta on Thursday.

The companies had been forced to close their operations due to inability of the government to curb the activities of the illegal miners, he was quoted as saying by DetikCom.

He said that the lack of the government's support to curb the illegal mining areas and to settle the conflicts between locals and mining companies had also discouraged foreign companies from investing in the country's mining sector. (*)