Private investors urged to mine industrial minerals
Private investors urged to mine industrial minerals
JAKARTA (JP): The government is urging private investors to
mine more industrial materials like phosphate and glass sand,
both of which are badly needed by local industries.
Director General of Mines Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said here
yesterday that local fertilizer companies are still importing a
significant volume of phosphate despite the country's abundant
phosphate reserves.
Kuntoro took as an example the state-owned fertilizer company
PT Petrokimia Gresik, who alone imported 633,680 tons of
phosphate worth US$30.8 million from Jordan and 479,368 tons at
$29.5 million from Morocco last year.
Petrokimia Gresik produces 2.4 million tons of fertilizer
annually or 30 percent of the country's annual fertilizer output
of 8.1 million tons.
"We want to make industrial minerals popular among our own
consumers," Kuntoro said during a three-day workshop held by the
Ministry of Mines and Energy.
He noted that the private sector is still focusing its
attention and investment on popular minerals, such as gold,
copper, nickel, bauxite and tin. And only few investors are
interested in phosphate, manganese and glass sand.
"The demand for glass sand, which is used for the production
of computer micro chips, will increase drastically in the future
along with the rapid development of computer technology," Kuntoro
said.
Problem
When opening the workshop on Thursday, Minister of Mines and
Energy Ida Bagus Sudjana said that there are still problems in
matching the needs of downstream industries with the general
mining sector.
"We need to have closer coordination with the Ministry of
Industry to tackle this problem and match the development of our
mining sector with the needs of the industrial sector," Sudjana
said.
The minister suggested that his staff determine which minerals
are no longer strategic so that private investors can be
involved.
Kuntoro said that tin, which was considered strategic during
President Sukarno's administration, might not be strategic
anymore and that the private sector should be able to enter the
sector.
PT Tambang Timah, the state-owned tin mining company,
therefore, should be able to expand its business into the mining
of industrial minerals, Kuntoro said.
Currently Tambang Timah is preparing to float shares on the
London, New York and Jakarta stock exchanges later this year.
The company's president, Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, said
yesterday that the funds from its initial public offering
overseas will go to the government, while the proceeds generated
from the domestic capital market will be used to expand the
company's business activities, including the mining of industrial
minerals. (rid)