Banpu keeps Jorong output at 2m tonnes

Thai coal miner Banpu Plc is maintaining an output target of 2 million tonnes this year from its Jorong mine in South Kalimantan, even though the site remains closed pending the resolution of questions about forest encroachment, The Bangkon Post reported on Thursday.

CEO Chanin Vongkusolkit said the company expected the Indonesian government would finalize new forestry regulations soon, with clearer designations of which areas are preserved forest areas.

Police closed Jorong and several other industrial sites last month as part of a crackdown on forest encroachment.

The new regulation would specify the mine site as a commercially permitted area.

The company last year produced 3.1 million tonnes of coal from Jorong, but output will decline in line with depleting coal reserves and the mine will close in six years.

Banpu's coal output from Indonesia is expected to rise 7.4% to 23 million tonnes from 21.4 million last year.(*)