Lebong Tandai gold mine needs investors

JAKARTA (JP): A 4,600-hectare gold mine in Lebong Tandai, North Bengkulu, needs new investors to replace the revoked operator PT Lusang Mining, an official said.

A spokesman from the Bengkulu administration, Gafur Syukur, said the gold mine was operated by Lusang Mining for several years until its license was revoked in 1995 due to its failure to fulfill financial obligations.

"We need committed investors to operate the gold mine, which has promising prospects," Gafur said, Antara reported in Bengkulu over the weekend.

According to data from the Ministry of Mines and Energy's Bengkulu office, Lusang produced about 500 kilograms to 600 kilograms of gold a year from the Tandai gold mine.

Lusang Mining took over the Tandai gold mine from an Indonesian-Australian consortium.

He said Lusang Mining left in the mining complex an estimated Rp 10 billion (US$4.2 million) worth of assets, including nine power generators preempted by the Bengkulu administration.

The firm also left unpaid obligations of Rp 179.5 million to its 500 employees, Rp 418.6 million to local businesses, Rp 20.4 million to the worker's cooperative, Rp 3.8 million arrears to the All-Indonesian Workers Association, Rp 278.5 million to the workers' insurance funds, and Rp 568 million in royalties to the Ministry of Mines and Energy. (04)