Arutmin ready to ramp up production to support PLN?s crash program

South Kalimantan coal miner PT. Arutmin Indonesia said on Wednesday it has the capacity to ramp up low rank coal production by another 20 million tonnes per annum within the next few years to supply coal to PLN?s proposed 10,000-MW new power plants that would be built across the country.

Arutmin?s senior official Sonny Pangestu told Petromindo.Com that the company is ready to ramp up 5,000 Kcal coal from its Mulia and Asam-Asam mines. ?Arutmin?s coal reserves are adequate to supply coal for years, and infrastructure to ramp up production would be ready when the power plants are ready,? he said.

PLN had just opened pre-qualification for the supply of around 40 million tonnes of coal annually for proposed coal-fired power plants it would develop under crash program scheme to meet Indonesia?s increasing electricity requirements. The power plants are planned to be operational starting 2010. Arutmin is one of the 15 suppliers that have passed the PQ.

Another company senior official said recently that Arutmin still had billions of tonnes of low-rank coal reserves in its mines.

Arutmin is a subsidiary of JSX-listed energy firm PT.Bumi Resources. Arutmin is in the final process of being sold. (godang)