Energy Earth to buy E. Kalimantan mine

Thai firm Energy Earth has budgeted US$116 million to acquire a coal-mining licence in Indonesia to sustain its reserves for 10 years, The Nation reported on Tuesday.

The Nation quoted Managing director Khajohnpong Khamdee as saying that its wholly owned subsidiary PT Tri Tunggal Pitriati (TTP) would take over the licence from Jhoswa Mahakam Mineral (JMM).

The mine in East Kalimantan has an estimated 43.05 million tonnes of coal.

The company plans to start surface mining in the second quarter of next year and supplying customers in the fourth quarter, when it will begin realising revenue from selling coal.

JMM has submitted an application to upgrade from exploration to production and obtain a principal licence as a requirement for securing a "forestland borrow-to-use" permit. The concession is for five years and can be extended five years at a time until the reserves are exhausted.

Energy Earth also has reserves of 3 million tonnes in South Kalimantan, which could be produced by next year, and 40 million tonnes in a Myanmar mine. (*)