PT Inco relinquishes 12.8% of CoW areas to govt

Indonesian listed nickel miner PT International Nickel Indonesia Tbk (Inco) announced Wednesday that it has relinquished some parts of its contract of work (CoW) areas in South East Sulawesi to the government.

The relinquished areas include Malupulu, Torobulu, Lasolo and Paopao, which represent a total area of approximately 28,000 hectares or 12.8 percent of the total current CoW area, the company said in statement.

The relinquishment was proposed by the company after considering its long term mining plan prepared under the new Indonesian mining law. The relinquishment will not impact the company?s mining plan or its reserves and will permit the government to consider alternative development for the areas in accordance with its planning priorities, it said.

PT Inco will take any necessary steps to hand over all necessary data and documentation with respect to the relinquished blocks and further steps to finalize the relinquishment. (denny)