Bukit Asam seeks new investor to develop Ombilin coal mine
Friday, February 9 2001 - 04:30 AM WIB
State owned coal mining company PT Bukit Asam said that it was seeking a new investor to jointly manage and operate its coal mine in Ombilin, Sawah Lunto of West Sumatera province, Republika daily reported on Friday.
R. Sunardi, the president of PT Bukit Asam, said in Palembang on Thursday that the help of a new investor was necessary to maintain the operation of the Omblin coal mine, the company's oldest mining site.
He said Bukit Asam, which now focused on its coal mining activities in Muara Enim, South Sumatera, had opened an international tender in 1995 to develop the Ombilin site in which a company based in China came out as the winner.
But he said that the Chinese company pulled out for unknown reasons. The company which won the second place in the tender had also been approached to carry out the project but the offer did not receive a positive response, Sunardi said.
He said that the Ombilin mine has mineable reserves of about 36.7 million tons. About 3.6 million tons of the reserves are located in the open pit mining site.(*)