Gulf makes progress in getting land permit for smelter project, PLN confirms power supply
Friday, October 2 2015 - 04:56 AM WIB
ASX-listed Gulf Manganese Corporation Limited said that its proposed 53 hectare block of land, in the industrial area of the Kupang Regency, West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara Province, has been officially measured and issued with a Field Map reference catalogue number as the first step to receiving a Certificate of Title for Building Construction (or known in Bahasa as Hak Guna Bangunan ?HGB) from the Indonesian National Land Agency (BPN).
?The issuing of a Certificate of Title will ensure security of tenure for PT Gulf Mangan Grup's Land Lease Agreement for the duration of its 50 year lease period from the local land owners and authorizes construction of the Timor Smelter,? Gulf said referring to its Indonesian subsidiary which is planning to build a ferromanganese alloy smelter with eight furnaces.
Gulf also said in a statement Tuesday that at a recent meeting with the Indonesian state-owned electricity firm PT PLN, it was confirmed that PLN will supply, on a user pay basis from mid 2016, 7 MW of power for the company's first furnace, which is due to come online the fourth quarter 2016. PLN will commission two new 16.5 MW power stations early next year with a further 60 MW power supply coming online during the second half of 2016.
PT Gulf Mangan's Indonesian-based Technical Director, Kevin Parker, said: "The issuing of a Field Map reference number and the confirmation from PLN of power supply, together with the recently issued Principle Licence, firmly establishes that the company is on track to start building and operating next year. These three areas significantly de-risk the project and with several Regency permits and licenses now required we are ready to move forward."
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak