Mineral resources found in 17 locations in Malang

Malang regency in East Java are also rich in mineral resources but due to the lack of financing and technology, most of the mineral resources are still untapped, Media Indonesia reported on Tuesday. Based on an aerial mapping, at least 17 locations in the regency are believed to contain important mineral resources such as gold, silver, coal and zing.

The regency?s administration said that it had recently established a mining office to ensure that the regency will be able to optimally benefit from the mineral riches.

At present, the mining activities on the regency were still focused on lime and kaolin but such mining activities had not yet given a significant contribution to the regency?s internal revenues.

"Over 1,100 trucks of mineral resources were mined a year in the regency but they only contributed about Rp 10 million to the regency?s income. A truck of such mineral was also priced at Rp 10,000 due to the ignorance of the local people," a member of the regency?s legislative council said. (*)