Timah mulls expansion to fishery
Thursday, July 13 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
Publicly listed state tin mining company PT Timah was considering expansion to fishery sector as part of its diversification program in anticipation of the depletion of its tin resources, company president Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas said.
"It's still an idea that needs a careful study. We don't want to make a careless decision," Erry told Petromindo.Com on Tuesday.
He said the company was actively seeking business opportunities over the past several years following the decrease in its tin resources in the Bangka Island, South Sumatra.
The company, which is listed in Jakarta and London, has been actively conducting explorations for non-tin mining products, including gold, in several parts of the country, including in Aceh, South Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Erry said the company also planned acquisition and was now shopping at the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), examining the companies taken over the agency from bad debtors.
"We don't want small companies. We want big companies, such as PT Kaltim Prima Coal," Erry said.
Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), a joint venture of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto and Anglo-American BP Amoco, operates a huge coalmine in Sangatta, East Kalimantan. Under its contract of work, the company is obliged to divest 51 percent of its shares to the Indonesian government, companies or citizens after ten years of operation.
Last year, Timah planned to buy a stake in KPC but it later dropped the plan due to the disagreement on the price. Timah considered the price set by KPC for its shares was too expensive.
Erry said Timah was ready to resume negotiations with KPC on the share acquisition.
"We shall try again. If they don't mind, we want to resume negotiation," he said.
According to Erry, Timah's tin output would drop 12.5 percent to 35,000 tons this year, from 40,000 tons last year.
Sources said Timah's remaining tin reserves were only adequate for another seven years of production. The company is cooperating with the Bandung Institute of Technology to measure the exact lifetime of its tin reserves. (*)