Berau, two other miners agree to reduce mining areas

By Maryati Dimursi

Coal miner PT Berau Coal, a subsidiary of IDX-listed coal giant PT Berau Coal Energy Tbk, and two other coal mining firms PT Bumi Laksana Perkasa (BLP) and PT Bangun Benua Persada (BBP) have signed MoUs on the conclusion of mining contract renegotiation with the government that would eventually lead to the amendment of their mining contracts as mandated by the 2009 Mining Law.

Bambang Tjahjono Setiabudi, Coal Chief at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said that the three firms have agreed to the main points of the contract renegotiation proposed by the government including on the reduction of their mining areas to comply with the stipulations set in the law and government regulations.

Bambang said that Berau has agreed to reduce its mining areas to a combined 108,009 hectares, from 118,400 ha.

Meanwhile, BLP and BBP have agreed to reduce their mining areas to 11,300 ha, and 6,960 ha, respectively.

Bambang said that the number of coal miners holding the so-called PKP2B coal contract of work that have signed the MoUs with the government on mining contract renegotiation have now increased to 56.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak