Berau Coal opens new mine

JAKARTA (JP): PT Berau Coal has opened a new colliery in Sambarata, East Kalimantan, which will bolster its production, according to its parent company PT United Tractors Tbk.

The 15,600 hectare mine field, estimated to contain 90 million metric tons of coal reserves, should produce 1.2 million tons this year, raising to 2 million in 2002, United Tractors said in a statement on Monday.

Berau Coal has built a coal processing mill and a terminal accessible to large ships and barges, it said.

The company last year produced five million tons of coal from its collieries in Lati and Binungan, both also in East Kalimantan. (05)