Comments of Aussie mining firms on security after Bali bomb blasts: Report

Following is the comments of Australian mining firms that have operations in Indonesia after Bali bomb blasts that killed many Australian citizens Saturday as reported by Bloomberg.

Rio Tinto Ltd. spokesman Ian Head:

The world's third-largest mining company has coal and gold investments in Indonesia.

``Rio Tinto's operations have adequate security in place and have had in Indonesia for quite some time. We have an evacuation plan but have no intention of evacuating.''

``We have no plans (to invest) in Indonesia beyond those operations we currently run.''

Rio Tinto operates giant coal mining Kaltim Prima Coal in East Kalimantan and gold mining Kelian Equatorial Mining. The company also has stakes in Freeport Indonesia.

Herald Resources Ltd. Chairman Terry Allen:

Herald Resources is exploring for zinc and lead in the mountains of northern Sumarta, where the nearest village is several kilometers away and has a population of fewer than 100 people, Allen said. Herald employs two Australians in Sumatra.

``It's going to affect investor confidence in the company. Until we find out the cause or reason and who's behind it all, we're not panicking.''

``It's seldom that Westerners get hurt in Indonesia. It's the first time there's been an attack on Westerners, even before with the problems in 1997 with the Suharto regime collapse.''

Leighton Holdings Ltd. spokeswoman Nicole Johnstone:

Australia's largest builder has two units working in Indonesia: Thiess and Leighton Asia. Thiess has a mining business in the southern part of Indonesian Borneo.

``The advice (from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs) is the situation outside Bali is fine. The company is monitoring the situation and as a consequence will restrict travel movements to an absolute minimum.'' (*)