PTBA to team up with Perdana Karya to explore coal mining area

State coal mining firm PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam Tbk. (PTBA) said it intended to team up with JSX-listed contractor and coal miner PT Perdana Karya Perkasa Tbk. to explore a coal mining area, with an estimated investment of US$ 70 million or around Rp 630 billion, Kontan Daily reported Monday.

 

An executive involved in a meeting on the cooperation plan said in Jakarta last week that management of the two companies had discussed the issue and the exploration project would not start until the end of this year.

 

To conduct exploration activities in the mining area, the two companies will form a joint venture, with Perdana Karya, owner of the mining area, as majority shareholder. "But the fixed funding scheme and composition is still under discussion," the source said.

 

According to source, PTBA was interested in establishing the cooperation because the coal reserves owned by Perdana Karya is of high quality, with calorie content of up to 6,500, he said. Besides, its production reached between 10,000 and 30,000 metric tons per month.  PTBA's coal has only a calorie content of 5,500 metric tons per month.

 

Meanwhile, PTBA’s corporate secretary Eko Budhiwijayanto confirmed that the company was studying the possibility of cooperating with 11 owners of coal mining area, of which one is owned by Perdana Karya. "We are conducting a due diligence on the Perdana Karya mining area," he said.

 

Legal, economic and reserve potential aspects were subject to the due diligence, he said. If the coal mining area owned by Perdana Karya meets the criteria, then PTBA would be interested in acquiring or taking part in developing it (the coal mining area), he said.

 

Currently, Perdana Karya is producing of 300,000 MTPA of coal, which comes from Teluk Dalam mine in Samarinda, East Kalimantan with mining area of just 100 hectares. (*)