Private investors urged to mine industrial minerals<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government is urging private investors to
\nmine more industrial materials like phosphate and glass sand,
\nboth of which are badly needed by local industries.<\/p>\n
Director General of Mines Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said here
\nyesterday that local fertilizer companies are still importing a
\nsignificant volume of phosphate despite the country's abundant
\nphosphate reserves.<\/p>\n
Kuntoro took as an example the state-owned fertilizer company
\nPT Petrokimia Gresik, who alone imported 633,680 tons of
\nphosphate worth US$30.8 million from Jordan and 479,368 tons at
\n$29.5 million from Morocco last year.<\/p>\n
Petrokimia Gresik produces 2.4 million tons of fertilizer
\nannually or 30 percent of the country's annual fertilizer output
\nof 8.1 million tons.<\/p>\n
\"We want to make industrial minerals popular among our own
\nconsumers,\" Kuntoro said during a three-day workshop held by the
\nMinistry of Mines and Energy.<\/p>\n
He noted that the private sector is still focusing its
\nattention and investment on popular minerals, such as gold,
\ncopper, nickel, bauxite and tin. And only few investors are
\ninterested in phosphate, manganese and glass sand.<\/p>\n
\"The demand for glass sand, which is used for the production
\nof computer micro chips, will increase drastically in the future
\nalong with the rapid development of computer technology,\" Kuntoro
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Problem<\/p>\n
When opening the workshop on Thursday, Minister of Mines and
\nEnergy Ida Bagus Sudjana said that there are still problems in
\nmatching the needs of downstream industries with the general
\nmining sector.<\/p>\n
\"We need to have closer coordination with the Ministry of
\nIndustry to tackle this problem and match the development of our
\nmining sector with the needs of the industrial sector,\" Sudjana
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The minister suggested that his staff determine which minerals
\nare no longer strategic so that private investors can be
\ninvolved.<\/p>\n
Kuntoro said that tin, which was considered strategic during
\nPresident Sukarno's administration, might not be strategic
\nanymore and that the private sector should be able to enter the
\nsector.<\/p>\n
PT Tambang Timah, the state-owned tin mining company,
\ntherefore, should be able to expand its business into the mining
\nof industrial minerals, Kuntoro said.<\/p>\n
Currently Tambang Timah is preparing to float shares on the
\nLondon, New York and Jakarta stock exchanges later this year.<\/p>\n
The company's president, Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, said
\nyesterday that the funds from its initial public offering
\noverseas will go to the government, while the proceeds generated
\nfrom the domestic capital market will be used to expand the
\ncompany's business activities, including the mining of industrial
\nminerals. (rid)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/private-investors-urged-to-mine-industrial-minerals-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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