Antam unit to mine diamond

JAKARTA (JP): PT Galuh Cempaka, a firm partly owned by the publicly-listed state general mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam), has said it will start mining diamond deposits off the coast of South Kalimantan in the near future.

Company president Chong Lee Cheng was quoted by Antara as saying in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, that the company had undertaken preparatory work and would shortly begin dredging the site, which lies offshore from the village of Palam in Cempaka Martapura district.

Chong said the company had found diamond deposits of 35,000 carats in its contract area.

The company will export the diamonds to the United States.

Galuh Cempaka is 80 percent owned by Ashton Malaysian Mining Company (AMMC) -- a joint venture between a Malaysian company and Ashton Mining of Australia -- while the remaining 20 percent is held by Antam.

Martapura is well known for its diamonds, which the locals have been extracting using traditional equipment for decades. (jsk)