Japan investors getting impatient about W. Kalimantan alumina project

State mining firm PT Aneka Tambang said on Thursday Japanese investors that would form joint venture to develop Tayan chemical grade alumina project in West Kalimantan are beginning to get impatient as little progress had been made on the project due to contract uncertainty and lack of legal framework.

?They are now reconsidering their involvement in the project,? said Antam?s president director Dedi Aditya Sumanegara in a public expose in Jakarta.

Dedi did not say whether or not the Japanese investors had put a deadline for Antam to settle the problem.

The US$177 million project is planned to be able to produce 300,000 tons of chemical garde alumina per annum from the huge bauxite deposit in Tayan. Antam will hold minority interest in the project.

Dedi said Antam applied for a contract of work (COW) for the planned joint venture, but the application for the 8th generation contract of work had not been approved by parliament pending for the new mining law.

Antam, like other local mining companies, needs only the so-called Mining Contract (KP) to start a mining project. The KPs are issued by the government and do not need approval from the House.

But, under the existing regulation, the KP has to be changed into the contract of work (COW) once local mining firms want to form partnership with foreign investors. The government needs the House's approval to issue COWs.

Dedi said Antam is currently tried to study alternatives of implementing the project without having to change KP to CoW, including the possibility of getting new strategic partner(s). (alex/godang)