Govt discharges Ombilin coal mining operation from PT BA
China investor to operate Ombilin
Wednesday, May 30 2001 - 07:30 AM WIB
The government has decided to release the Ombilin-Sawahlunto coal mining operation in West Sumatera from the state-owned coal mining company PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (BA).
Director general of state enterprises I Nyoman Tjager was quoted by the Bisnis Indonesia daily as saying that the release was made in anticipation of the plan to sell BA to a strategic investor this year.
Tjager said that operating the Ombilin site would be costly because after 2003, the reserves in the area could no longer be mined through open pit mining because the massive illegal mining in the area had depleted the reserves. He said that the alternative of under ground mining would be costly and risky.
"The operation of under ground mining will not be allure investor because of the high investment," he said.
He said that the government plans to form a separate entity for the Ombilin site including the possibility of a joint venture.
Meanwhile, Bisnis Indonesia quoted BA president Sunardi as saying that an investor from China called CMC has won the tender to operate the Ombilin site. He said that the Chinese investor would come up with the detail cost for the under ground mining operation some time in August.
The paper said that the Ombilin site has coal reserves of around 100 million tons or 1 percent of the total reserves controlled by the South Sumatra-based BA.(*)