RI gold, copper output to drop next year

Indonesia?s copper and gold output is expected to fall by 30 percent next year to 644,098 tons and 91,171 kilograms from this year?s target at 1.07 million tons and 115,998 kilograms, respectively.

The situation will extend until 2012, said Director General of Coal, Minerals and Geothermal Bambang Setiawan on Wednesday.

Bambang cited that copper and gold miner PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara will expand its mines and will temporarily reduce production capacity as a consequence of the expansion program, Bambang said. ?The expansion of the mine area will [temporarily] lower [Newmont?s] production,?

The government expects copper production to reach 1,016,949 tons this year, up from the estimated figure of 868,171 tons for 2009.

As for gold, the government expects production to reach 115,998 kilograms this year, up from the 2009 estimated figure of 105,404 kilograms.

NNT's spokesman Rubi W Purnomo said that the firm actually would produce more ores in 2011. ?However, copper and gold production will decrease in 2011, because the ores have different characteristics from those mined in 2010,? he said. (*)

Commodities	2010	2011	2012
Copper (tons)	1,016,949	644,098	609,171
Gold (kilograms)	115,998	91,171	60,488
Tin (tons)	105,000	105,000	105,000
Iron ore (metric tons)	4,125,235	4,207,739	4,291,894
Nickel ore (tons)	11,064,084	11,285,366	11,511,073
Ni+Co in matte (tons)	77,700	82,372	82,009
Ferronickel (metric tons)	18,276	18,641	19,014
Source: Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry