Coal and mineral firms driven to start production by 2007: Official
Saturday, November 4 2006 - 02:12 AM WIB
The 11 firms operating in coal and mineral mining areas are PT Meares Soputan Mining in North Sulawesi, PT Tambang Tondano Nusajaya, also in North Sulawesi, PT Dairi Prima Mineral in North Sumatra, PT Natarang Mining in Lampung, PT Newmont Horas Nauli in North Sumatra, PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) in Sumbawa, Weda Bay in North Maluku, PT Inco in Central Sulawesi, PT Ensbury Kalteng Mining in Central Kalimantan, PT Mindoro Tiris Emas in South Sumatra and PT BHP-Lahai Coal in East Kalimantan/ Central Kalimantan.
?Next year, the companies are expected to be able to engage in exploitation activities and they are encouraged to start production soon, with estimated 2007 at the earliest and 2010 at the latest. This is important so that an investment that reaches US$3 billion can soon be realized and generate the economy,? said MS Marpaung, Director of Coal and Mineral Business Development Division at the Energy and Mineral Resources, in Jakarta Friday.
He said that most of the 11 mining areas have gold, copper, silver and nickel reserves.
According to Marpaung, efforts should be made to drive mining sector to soon start production at a time when other industries have yet to start to grow. Since the economic crisis that hit Indonesia in 1997, there has yet to be new coal and mineral mining opened.
Marpaung said that different perceptions about mining operation between the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and the Ministry of Forestry has hampered the expected production of coal and mineral companies.
?Actually, the companies have already pocketed the mining license but cannot start operation because they face difficulty in getting a license on land use in the forest area (from the Forestry Ministry),? he said.
Marpaung underlined the importance of understanding the mining issue among related ministries so as to ensure certainty in mining sector. (godang)