Newmont offers 7% stake for $444 million

Copper and gold miner PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, a subsidiary of American mining firm Newmont Corp has officially offered a 7 percent stake it has to divest this year for US$444,978,888, a senior governmental official said on Wednesday.

Director General of Mineral, Coal and Geothermal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Bambang Setiawan said that the price set by Newmont for its stake is 7 percent higher than last year.

The increase is probably because the firm takes into account the license it recently received from the Ministry of Forestry for its Phase 6 and 7 expansion projects, according to Bambang.

?We shall evaluate the Newmont offer in three days, whether we are going to buy it or not. The result of the evaluation will be forwarded to the Ministry of Finance for a final a decision whether the government will buy the stake or not,? he said.

Under the contract, Newmont has to offer its stake first to the Central Government. If it is not interested in the stake, the stake will be offered to state owned companies, regional governments, regional government-owned companies or Indonesian controlled private firms.

Last year, the Bakrie group cooperated with PT Multi Daerah Bersaing, which is owned by the West Nusa Tenggara regional administrations, in buying a 24 stake in Newmont. (Bernard)