IMA calls on govt to provide incentive, clear rule on exploration

By Bambang Atmaja

Executive Director of the Indonesian Mining Association (IMA) Syahrir AB called on the government to provide incentives and certainty on regulations for industry players to carry out green field exploration due to the high risk.

He said that green field exploration is important to help find new reserves, but unfortunately no significant activities have been carried out by the miners, creating concern over the sustainability of the country?s mining sector in the future.

"The risk in exploration is high, for metal, the rate of the success in only 4 percent, very small. So if they (miners) are not given certainty on rules and incentives, who would come," he told Petromindo.com Friday.

"If this keeps on happening, our reserves to support the mining industry in the future is going to be null. This means that our mining industry is not going to sustain in the next 20 to 25 years," Syahrir said.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak