Coal miners set to invest in processing facilities

Some coal miners in the country are set to invest in coal processing facilities amid plans by the government to require miners to process coal at home to generate greater value from the commodity, Kontan reported on Friday.

Corporate Secretary of IDX-listed ATPK Resources Tbk, Andreas Andi said that the coal mining company plans to team up with a Chinese firm to develop a coal upgrading facility that would allow the company to increase calorific value of its coal from 3,500 kcal/kg to 5,000 kcal/kg. He declined to provide further details.

PT Atlas Resources Tbk, another IDX-listed coal mining firm, is also planning to invest in coal processing facility, according to company director Eddy (one name). Eddy, however, appealed to the government to provide the company three years to develop such facility considering the huge investment requirement.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources is planning to revise Government Regulation No 23/2010, which reportedly will no longer consider coal crushing and washing as value added processing. Instead, according to draft of the revised regulation, coal processing is described to comprise of six forms including coal upgrading, coal blending, coal briquetting, coal liquefaction, coal gasification, and coal water mixer. (*)