State suffers losses trillion of rupiah due to illegal mining

State suffers losses of trillions of rupiah in unpaid royalties and taxes from at least 30 tons of gold, 4 million tons of coal and about 2,800 carat of diamond produced by illegal miners annually, according to Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The minister said that the losses did not include damages caused by the illegal mining operations on roads and environment, BRD reported on Wednesday,

Speaking at a workshop on illegal mining operations in the country in Cipayung, Bogor on Tuesday, the minister said that the impact of the illegal mining operations on the environment was much more fatal because their operations were not supported by adequate processing and waste treatment facilities,

In addition, their operations also caused a fatal impact on the mining sites, as they mostly did not carry out reclamation works on their mining areas, the minister said at the workshop, which was also addressed by the minister's senior officials.

The minister acknowledged that the illegal mining operations, which involved thousands of workers, have also helped solve the manpower problem in provinces. "That's why, the government is considering a number of alternatives to find a win-win solution in dealing with the illegal mining activities," he said.

According to the ministry's data, about 62,000 people are involved in the illegal mining activities, of which 39,700 of them are working on illegal gold mining, 20,300 people on illegal coal mining. Most of them operate in the mining concessions owned by licensed mining companies.

One of the alternatives is to legalize their operations by giving parts of the concessions rights now being operated by mining companies, the minister said. (*)