PTNNT receives export permit

PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (PTNNT), a subsidiary of American mining giant Newmont Corp., announced on Monday that the company received its export permit and anticipates copper concentrate shipments to resume this week.

Ramp up operations have been underway since early September, following signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Indonesia, and planned milling and mining levels are expected to be achieved during October. All employees and contractors necessary to maintain normal operations are being recalled in stages and will go through refresher safety training and reintegrated into their roles over the next six to eight weeks.

?For the more than 8,000 employees and contractors at Batu Hijau and their families, the resumption of operations marks an important milestone in restoring their livelihoods, as well as supporting the economy of the Sumbawa Barat region,? said Martiono Hadianto, President Director of PTNNT. ?We want to thank all of our employees for their continued support and patience during this difficult period, and we appreciate the Government working with PTNNT to finalize the MoU and issue the export permit.?

Effective with the signing of the MoU and receipt of an export permit, PTNNT agreed to pay export duties set forth in a new regulation issued in July 2014, provide a US$25 million assurance bond to demonstrate its support for smelter development, and pay royalties of 4 percent for copper, 3.75 percent for gold, and 3.25 percent for silver, and pay a nominal deadrent per hectare.

The MoU agreed to with the government outlines a mutual understanding on the six key elements of the Contract of Work (CoW) renegotiation, which will be incorporated into an amendment of the CoW. The six areas are: concession area size; royalties, taxes and export duties; domestic processing and refining; ownership divestment; utilization of local manpower, domestic goods and services; and duration of the CoW.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon