Cokal seeks to upgrade forestry permit for BBM project in C. Kalimantan
Wednesday, January 30 2013 - 02:22 AM WIB
ASX-listed Cokal Limited said it has lodged its application to upgrade the BBM Forest Utilization Approval permit (exploration stage), or also known under the Bahasa term of Ijin Pinjam Pakai Kawasan Hutan (IPPKH) to Forest Rent Use Permit (Operation I Production stage) for its 60 percent owned Bumi Barito Mineral Coal Project (BBM), located in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.
The application was prepared in accordance with the relevant forestry regulations and has been submitted to the Forestry Department, the company said in a statement obtained Wednesday.
Once granted, the upgraded forestry permit will enable construction of the BBM coking coal project to commence. In line with the integrated development of the BBM project, the application to upgrade the forestry permit includes the forestry areas associated with the development of the BBM mine, haul road and river barging terminal.
?Since the start of the New Year, Cokal has achieved three important milestones towards obtaining the necessary approvals for the BBM project. With the submission of the EIS (Environmental Impact Studies), together with the applications to upgrade the mining license and the forestry permit, we remain on track towards meeting our target of commencing construction in Q4 201 3? said Chairman Peter Lynch.
Cokal also said that it has finalized the process to acquire approximately 15 hectares of land from local land owners to establish the logistics support facility and road access network for the BBM project. The land acquired by Cokal includes several hundred metres of river frontage which importantly, will enable the unobstructed transport of heavy equipment and supplies by barge directly to the project area via the Barito River .
?The completion of the land acquisition process for the logistics support facility and road access network is an excellent achievement. We are now no longer in a position where we are reliant on land access agreements with land owners, we are the land owners, and this provides a more secured logistics supply chain for the BBM coking coal project and this is very beneficial to maintaining the early development schedule for the Project.? said Lynch.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak