Energy Ministry Approves 664 Mining Work Plans and Budgets up to June 2026

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, through the Directorate General of Minerals and Coal, has granted approval to 664 Mining Work Plans and Budgets (RKAB) for the year 2026 up to 12 June 2026. To strengthen governance in the mineral and coal sector, the ministry is ensuring that all licensing and supervision processes for mining activities operate through a standardised, measurable, and digitalised system. Director General of Minerals and Coal Tri Winarno emphasised that mining activities cannot be conducted solely by holding a Mining Business Licence (IUP). Each company is also required to prepare a clear activity plan, fulfilling technical, environmental, safety, and state revenue obligations before obtaining approval to run its operations. “Every mining activity must have a legal basis, clear planning, and comply with all applicable provisions,” he stated in an official release on Friday (12/6). Furthermore, the government conducts a comprehensive evaluation of various requirements that form part of mining governance. In accordance with Article 111 of Law Number 3 of 2020 on Mineral and Coal Mining, the RKAB is a mandatory document for holders of IUP and Special IUP (IUPK), containing plans for mining business activities covering exploitation, technical, financial, and environmental aspects. The RKAB document serves as a reference for companies in carrying out mining activities at the exploration, production operation, processing and/or refining, and post-mining stages. Therefore, every RKAB submission must undergo an evaluation process before obtaining government approval. The entire submission, evaluation, and approval process is processed online and integrated through the MinerbaOne information system. In this evaluation process, the Directorate General of Minerals and Coal examines various aspects, including administrative completeness and licensing legality, conformity of the mining plan with good mining practice principles, fulfilment of environmental obligations including reclamation guarantees, mining safety aspects, and the company’s ability to meet state revenue obligations. Tri acknowledged that his office continues to make corrections and evaluations of submitted documents so that mining activities proceed according to plan and comply with the principles of good mining governance. “Every approval is granted after all required aspects are declared to have been met,” Tri explained. The regulation regarding RKAB is strengthened through Government Regulation Number 39 of 2025 and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation Number 17 of 2025. All RKAB submissions are also made electronically through the integrated e-RKAB information system as part of the digital transformation of mineral and coal governance. Through this policy, the RKAB matrix has been simplified to three matrices for the exploration stage and ten matrices for the production operation stage. The simplification was carried out without reducing supervision of mining safety aspects, fulfilment of non-tax state revenue obligations, use of mining services, community development and empowerment, and reclamation obligations. “Other matrices that are no longer used have been moved into the realisation reporting matrix, which must be submitted periodically,” Tri added. For business entities whose RKAB documents still require improvement, the government provides the opportunity to make corrections according to the applicable mechanism. “If there are indeed aspects that still need to be improved, we provide room for them to be completed. We also continue to provide assistance through coaching clinics so that companies understand the aspects that need to be adjusted, enabling their documents to meet the provisions,” Tri said. Hundreds of assistance sessions have been conducted. Based on evaluation results, several aspects still requiring improvement include exploration data and reserve resources, mining and overburden disposal plans, processing and refining aspects, marketing plans, and the completeness of company legality.