East Kalimantan offers huge coal potential

The East Kalimantan province offer a huge coal potential with total proven coal reserves estimated at 4.41 trillion tons, a senior official at the provincial mining office Budihartono said.

He said that were 12 coal mining companies currently operation in the province. They include PT Multi Harapan, PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), PT Tanito Harum, PT Bukit Baiduri Enterprise, PT Fajar Bumi Sakti, PT Kitadin, PT Berau Coal, PT Kideco Jaya Agung, and PT BHP Kendilo Coal.

Budihartono said that half of the total proven coal reserves was located at the mining site of KPC.

He said that it would take up to 30 years to mine the coal potential, but he added that not all of the coal reserves could be exploited as some were still ?at their young age,? and the fact that several companies were expected to end their operation soon.

He said that this included PT BHP Kendilo Coal which would close its mining site in 2003, PT Kitadin in 2005, and PT Fajar Bumi Sakti in 2006.(*)