R.E.A Holdings to start Kutai coal production in Q4

London-listed, East Kalimantan-based plantation firm R.E.A Holdings Plc is expected to start commercial operation at its Kota Bangun coal mine in Kutai Kartanegara regency, East Kalimantan in the last quarter of 2010.

?Mining permits for the Kota Bangun concession have been finalised and land compensation has been agreed. A contractor has been appointed, overburden is currently being removed,? the company said in statement last week.

Further drilling has been commissioned to provide a better idea of the extent to which the inferred reserves of not less than 2 million tons can be economically mined, it said.

R.E.A has other two coal concessions namely Liburdinding and Muser located near Tanah Grogot, Paser regency, East Kalimantan. Currently, Liburdinding mine produces 3,000-4,000 tons per month, sold to domestic market.

R.E.A bought Liburdinding and Muser mines in the second half of 2008, followed by the purchase of the third concession located near Kota Bangun in the central part of East Kalimantan.

R.E.A also has a fourth company, PT KCC Mining Services Indonesia, incorporated under the Indonesian foreign investment law and owned 95 per cent by KCC Resources Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company incorporated in England and Wales and 5 percent by the local partners. (denny)