West Java mining office orders stoppage of titanium mining activities
Tuesday, June 26 2001 - 01:49 AM WIB
The head of the provincial mining office, Bambang P. said in Bandung on Monday that his office had told Sukabumi regent to stop the titanium mining activities and not issue any license to legalize their activities.
Bambang contended that titanium in Sukabumi, that could be used as a material to make nuclear power, had been declared as an energy conservation in West Java.
"Because of its great potentials, we prepare this titanium mineral for the future," Bambang said.
In addition, Bambang said, it needed a comprehensive planning to mine titanium in Sukabumi.
Bambang expressed his concern that the titanium mining activities, if not handled now, would easily spread into more areas in Sukabumi and involve more people.
He suspected that a number of businessmen had used local people to mine for titanium contained in the sands of Sukabumi beaches.
"Many businessmen cheated local people and bought the titanium mineral at cheap prices," he said.
Meanwhile, the head of the exploration and mapping division at the West Java mining office, Suwarman, said there were 176 miners legally operating in the province.
The number of those registered miners was very small compared to a huge number of illegal miners operating mostly along many rivers in West Java, including Citarum River, Citanduy River and Cipunegara River.
Moreover, out of the 176 registered miners, only 40 percent of them were still active, Suwarman said.
"Most of those active miners are located in Bogor. The other 60 percent are not active due to a number of reasons, including funding, market and incomplete mining license," he said. (*)