Mining firms set to sign contract amendment in December: Official

By Thomas Sembiring

Director General of Mineral and Coal Bambang Gatot Ariyono said that as many as 20 mining firms are set to finally sign the amendment of their mining contracts next month.

He said on Wednesday that the mining firms include 13 mineral mining firms holding the mining contract of work (KK) and seven coal miners holding the coal contract of work (PKP2B).

While not disclosing the names of the mineral mining firms, Bambang set that they are not large ones such as gold and copper giants PT Freeport Indonesia and PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara.

Meanwhile, the seven PKP2B coal miners include PT Banjar Intan Mandiri, PD Baramata, PT Tanjung Alam Jaya, PT Bara Pramulya Abadi, PT Sumber Kurnia Buana, PT Batualam Selaras, and PT Ekasatya Yanatama.

The government has been pushing miners to amend their mining contracts to comply with the 2009 Mining Law. But negotiation between the government and the miners for the amendment of the mining contracts has been protracted in the wake of the current downturn in commodity prices. Bambang said that the toughest issue has been with regards to the financial obligations of the miners to the state.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak