Five mining firms prospecting for gold in North Barito
Monday, November 20 2000 - 01:00 AM WIB
Currently only five gold mining companies, out of 15 mining companies interested in gold mining investment in North Barito district, West Kalimantan, have invested their money in gold mining activities and are still active in North Barito, according to an assistant to the North Barito regent for development affairs, Jamaluddin.
Jamaluddin said some other companies were not anymore active in North Barito because their concessions contain only little gold reserves, and therefore not viable to be mined.
The active companies include PT Indo Muro Kencana, PT Barito Intan Mas, PT Kalimantan Surya Kencana and PT Danum Bukit. They operate in North Barito based on contracts of works (KK). The other gold mining company active in North Barito is PT Sumberdaya Mineral, operating based on mining license (KP).
Indo Muro Kencana is the eldest among the five as it has exploited for gold since 1994, with mining concessions covering an area of 47,962 hectares spreading in Tanah Siang, Murung and Permata Intan subdistricts.
Indo Muro's produced 4.2 tons of gold ore and 102 tons of silver ore in 1995. Its gold and silver production generally increased to 5.4 tons and 93 tons respectively in 1996, 5.4 tons and 130 tons in 1997, 5 tons and 132 tons in 1998 and 5.4 tons and 90 tons in 1999. This year, Indo Mura's had produced 4.3 tons of gold ore and 61 tons of silver ore as of the end of September.
And Barito Intan Mas currently exploits 70,573 hectares of concessions in North Barito and Kapuas districts.
Meanwhile, Kalimantan Surya Kencana and Danum Bukit Mineral are still in their general exploration stage. Surya Kencara explores for gold in a concession area of 121,900 hectares spreading in Sumber Barito subdistrict, North Barito, and North Kahayan Hulu subdistrict in Kapuas district. And Danum Bukit Mineral conducts its exploration in an concession area of 833,900 hectares. And Sumberdaya Mineral has two exploration concessions, covering an area of 43,100 hectares, in North Barito and South Barito district. (*)