Newmont resumes export

After having been suspended since January 12 of this year, gold and copper giant PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) finally resumed export of copper concentrates late Monday, shipping out 27,000 tons of the commodity, Investor Daily reported.

?This evening it (the company) exported 27,000 tons. The shipment process has been completed,? said Director General of Mineral and Coal R. Sukhyar.

Sukhyar said that NNT has obtained the necessary export permit from the Ministry of Trade with an export quota of about 350,000 tons for six-month period after meeting a number of requirements set by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources including concluding an MoU on mining contract renegotiation with the government, under which the company among others agreed to pay a higher royalty. NNT has also agreed to pay export tax of 7.5 percent, and to support PT Freeport Indonesia?s planned domestic smelter by supplying part of the concentrates requirement.

NNT President Director Martiono Hadianto said that the export was destined for Japan and South Korea. He did not provide details.

NNT suspended export earlier this year after the government introduced tougher export requirements, which led to the suspension of the company?s Batu Hijau mine in West Nusa Tenggara Province and the filing of international arbitration against the government. The lawsuit was revoked late last month. (*)