Aussie envoy in Kalimantan

Aussie envoy in Kalimantan

JAKARTA (JP): Australian Ambassador to Indonesia John McCarthy
began a four-day visit to East Kalimantan yesterday to observe
Australian mining projects in the area.

The Australian Embassy said yesterday that during his stay,
McCarthy intended to visit mining operations of PT Kaltim Prima
Coal and PT Kelian Equatorial Mining, in which Australia's mining
firm Rio Tinto has stakes.

He will also visit the office of Australia's mining giant BHP.

"The mining industry remains a major export earner for
Indonesia and my visit is intended to show that Australia has
substantial investment in this sector," McCarthy said, adding
that despite Indonesia's current economic problems, Australian
companies are staying in the country for the long term.

The ambassador said he welcomed Indonesia's recent awardings
of mining contracts of work to overseas companies, which included
11 Australian companies.

The 11 companies are Pelsart International NL, Moonstone
Diamond Corp. NL, MM Gold Pty. Ltd., Laverton Gold NL, BHP Asia
Pacific Nickel Pty. Ltd., WMC Resources International Pty. Ltd.,
Herald Resources Ltd., Ocean Resources NL, Lone Star Exploration
NL, Wesfarmers Coal (Indonesia) Pty. Ltd. and BHP Minerals
Holdings Pty. Ltd. (08)