Santan Batubara opens new coal block

By Edgar Subroto

East Kalimantan coal miner PT. Santan Batubara has opened a new block called Uskap recently to boost its coal output for next year, the industrial source told Petromindo.com on Monday.

The new block has minable reserve of around 7 million tons with calorific value of 6200-6000 kcal/kg (ADB) with total sulphur below 1.0%, the source said.

The company?s current producing block called Separi, with a current reserve of about 6 million tons from 19 million tons before.

The company is hoping to get be back on track next year to produce around 2.5-3.0 million tons of coal. This year, the company expects to cut down production to 2 million tons from initial target of 2.5 million tons due to the current downward trend of coal prices.

Santan is the third generation CCoW holder with concession of 25,000 hectares within three regencies of Kutai Kartanegara, East Kutai, and Bontang in East Kalimantan.

Editing by Benget Besalicto Tnb.