Newmont arbitration awaits independent judge: Official

The Indonesian government and copper and gold miner PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), the Indonesian unit of American mining giant Newmont Corp., have not decided the place and the time for the arbitration hearing of dispute over the company's divestment.

Both the government and NNT have appointed their respective judges for the arbitration. The government has named Sornajah from the National University of Singapore while NNT had appointed an American, Stephen M. Schwebel, the former president of the international court. But the third or independent judge has not been named.

"As we have not yet decided who would act as an independent judge, the date and the location for the arbitration hearing has not been fixed," Simon F. Sembiring, Director General of Coal, Mineral and Geothermal Resources at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said in Jakarta on Monday.

Simon said that the government had insisted that the third judge should have a good knowledge about the Indonesian law, considering that the arbitration proceeding would be carried under the Indonesian legal procedure.

The government and NNT have been at odds over the mandatory divestment of the company's shares. The government has accused the American mining giant of intentionally delaying the divestment, the charge which has been strongly opposed by the company.

Both the government and NNT have agreed to settle their difference through an international arbitration. (*)