East Kalimantan still open to new coal investment: Official

The East Kalimantan province is still open to new investment in the coal mining sector amid huge reserves, according to deputy head of the provincial mining office Nurdin Thayib.

Nurdin was quoted by the local Kaltim Post daily as saying that coal reserves in the province was estimated at 5.3 billion tons or 14 percent of national reserves of around 36.3 billion tons.

He said that based on 1999 data, the size of coal mining contract in the province was 133,571 hectare of which 71,930 ha belongs to Indominco Mandiri, 22,985 ha controls by Kaltim Prima Coal, MHU 17,487 ha, and Berau Coal 6,489 ha.

?The East Kalimantan province is still wide open for new investment in the coal sector,? he said. (*)