Rio Tinto doubles net earnings in Indonesia in 2001
Thursday, February 7 2002 - 03:12 AM WIB
The company said in a press statement made available to Petromindo. Com Thursday that its turnover in the country rose to A$1,839 million last year, from A$1,415 million in the previous year.
Earnings from its coal company Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) in East Kalimantan rose significantly to A$42 million last year , resulting from higher coal price and increased sales volume.
?Production shortfalls caused by a strike at a major maintenance contractor and illegal mine blockades by land claimants in the first half of 2001 were recovered in the second half,? the company said.
The company did not provide production figures in the statement but KPC?s spokesman Bambang Susanto recently told Petromindo that the company?s coal production rose to 15.6 million tons last year from 13.4 million tons in 2000.
Kaltim Prima is equally owned by the company and Anglo-American energy firm BP.
Rio Tinto recorded a decrease in its share of the copper production at the Grasberg copper and gold mine in Papua, but its share of the mine?s gold output increased thanks to the higher recoveries and grades.
Rio Tinto?s overall share of production declined by eight percent for copper to 187,900 tons last year and increased by 72 percent for gold to 1,267,000 ounces.
Rio Tinto has a 13 percent stake in American mining giant Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold, which is the majority owner of PT Rio Tinto Indonesia, the operator of the Grasberg mine.
Freeport Indonesia earlier reported that its gold output at the Grasberg mine increased by 700,000 ounces to 2,644,800 ounces last year, but its copper output remained stable at 1.4 billion pounds.
The company also recorded increased production at its 90-percent owned Kelian gold mine in East Kalimantan due to the higher head grade and improved ore throughput.
It earlier said Kelian?s full year gold production in 2001 was 34 percent higher than in 2000, but did not provide the output figures. (Bodega)