Antam to buy gold from traditional miners

By Thomas Sembiring

IDX-listed mining firm PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) said it will open the possibility of getting supply of cheap gold nuggets from small traditional miners as long as the mines are legal and meet proper requirements.

Antam President Director Tedy Badrujaman said that the move is part of efforts to expand its gold supply sources as the company seeks to increase revenue from the commodity, which last year was the largest contributor to total revenue. ?For Antam, it is not taboo to buy gold from traditional miners as long as they?re legal,? he told Petromindo.com recently.

Traditional gold miners have often been associated with illegal mining activities as they operate in areas without permit and apply materials such as mercury to process ores into nuggets, raising health and environmental concerns.

Antam operates gold mines in Pongkor and Cibaliung, West Java Province. The company also buys gold from other parties. The company has set gold production target of 2.45 tons this year, up from 2.21 tons last year, as price of the commodity has been on a rising trend amid lingering global uncertainty. Sales this year is targeted to reach 11.5 tons, while in the first of eight months it has reached 7.5 tons.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak