Nickel miners urge govt to extend ore export deadline

By Hisky Darmayana

The association of Indonesian nickel miners (ANI) has urged the government to extend the deadline to export unprocessed mineral ores from early 2014 as stated in the new mining law to give its members more time to prepare for the establishment of smelters.

The association?s secretary general Anton R. Santoso said that the lack of infrastructure facilities such as electricity was the main problem in building a smelter in the country. ?The government should first guarantee the availability of infrastructure facilities,? he told Petromindo.com.

He said that the association was still consulting with legal experts to decide other legal actions which could be made to challenge the export ban. According to him, the association may also consider challenge the law through the Constitution Court.

Under the mining law, beginning early 2014, mining companies are no longer allowed to export unprocessed mineral ores. They should build their own smelters or cooperate with other smelters to process their mineral production.

Anton said that the association?s 200 members who own nickel mines covering 3,000 hectares in principle support the government?s downstream program. ?But the association is against the 2014 deadline,? he said.

Editing by Adianto P. Simamora