Newmont, govt agree to value asset at $3.526b

The government and American mining firm Newmont Mining Corp agree that the latter?s subsidiary PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), which operate huge copper and gold mine in Nusa Tenggara Barat province, is worth at US$3.526 billion.

The asset value will be used as a reference in determining the price of stake the firm has to divest to the government or parties appointed by the government.

?I was just informed by Bambang Setiawan (Director General of Mineral, Coal and Geothermal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources) that there has been an agreement with Newmont over the price. 100 percent of NNT?s asset is valued at $3.526 billion,? Wimpy S. Tjetjep, Deputy Coordinating Minister for Energy, Mineral Resources and Forestry, told reporters on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Finance may decide to buy the stakes. If it decides not to buy the stakes, together with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the Office of State Minister of State Enterprises, it will decide whether to appoint or propose other parties to buy the stake.

?The decision whether to buy the stakes will be made within two weeks, while Newmont gave (the government) 30 days to make such a decision,? Wimpy said.

Under the contract of work (CoW), NNT has to divest up to 51 percent of its stake to the government or local companies several years after operation. Since 20 percent of the stake has been under control of PT Pukuafu Indah, NNT has to divest only 31 percent of its stake. Pukuafu is the original local partner of Newmont and Sumitomo Corp, which owns 45 and 35 percent of NNT respectively.

Local governments Nusa Tenggara Barat province, Sumbawa regency and Sumbawa Barat regency has set up a consortium to acquire 10 percent of the stake in a partnership with PT Multicapital, which is partly owned by coal mining giant PT Bumi Resources. (Bodega)