NTB govt won?t issue new mining license to protect environment
Wednesday, March 13 2002 - 03:27 AM WIB
West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) provincial governor Harun Al Rasyid said that his administration would no longer issue new mining permit although the province still have huge mining potential.
He said Monday that the move was aimed to help protect the local environment.
He said that the huge scale gold mining activity of U.S.-based Newmont in the Batu Hijau area was enough. He said that Newmont had provided around US$12-15 million in revenue per year to the local government?s coffer.(*)