Giralia frets at RI mine deals

Giralia frets at RI mine deals

SINGAPORE (Reuter): The chairman of Australian junior miner Giralia Resources NL said yesterday he is worried that new mining agreements with Indonesia will not be signed this year and may be delayed until mid-1998.

"At the moment, the seventh generation contract of works (COWs) are stuck," Phillip Golding, the chairman of Giralia, told Reuters in an interview at a gold conference.

He said the Indonesian House of Representatives, which must approve the agreements governing mining in the country, may not be able to do so until after presidential elections scheduled for the middle of next year.

Golding said politicians were upset by an Indonesian newspaper report which alleged that funds from processing the applications were going to them.

"The politicians were upset by the whole thing and have indicated for the time being that they are not prepared to consider the processing of the COWs," he said.

"It means applicants are going to be in a very difficult position in terms of what they do in the meantime."

The COWs have to be presented formally to the House by the Mines and Energy minister. Then they need approval from President Soeharto before being signed into effect by the Mines minister and the mining companies.

"This is not a helpful thing to have happened. It's what everybody is worried about at the moment. It's obviously very difficult to continue to put exploration money at risk while your COW is so far away," Golding said.