Rio Tinto says coal production continues in East Kalimantan

Rio Tinto says coal production continues in East Kalimantan

SYDNEY (Dow Jones): Coal production is continuing at the East
Kalimantan operations in Indonesia run by PT Kaltim Prima Coal
(KPC), a company jointly owned by the Anglo-Australian miner Rio
Tinto (RTP) and BP-Amoco PLC. (BPA) of the UK.

Rio Tinto said Monday that coal production is continuing
despite the temporary withdrawal of all its expatriate employees
over the weekend as relations between Australia and Indonesia
soured over the issue of East Timor.

The company said in a statement that it expects expatriate
employees will return to the mine site in Sangatta soon and is
confident that supply to customers won't be affected.

PT Kaltim Prima Coal employs fewer than 50 expatriates in a
total workforce of about 2,600.

While the mine is in a remote area that has been unaffected by
anti-Australian demonstrations, PT Kaltim Prima Coal President
Director Grant Thorne said the company had decided to pull out
its expatriate staff as a precautionary measure arising from
anti-Australian sentiment around the main provincial city of
Balikpapan.

Anti-Australian demonstrations have flared up in some parts of
Indonesia as Australia leads a UN peacekeeping force into the
troubled province. Australia lobbied hard for the multinational
force to be allowed into the territory to quell the violence,
which erupted when the half-island voted overwhelmingly for
independence last month.

Contractors to Kaltim Prima Coal have also chosen to withdraw
most of their expatriate employees, Rio Tinto said.

Kaltim Prima Coal, or KPC, which produces around 15 million to
16 million metric tons of steaming coal a year.

Aurora

Meanwhile, Australia's Aurora Gold Ltd. said Monday that it
has evacuated dependents of its expatriate staff from Balikpapan
in Kalimantan, due to continuing unrest in Indonesia.

"Some downsizing throughout the group will be implemented this
month and exploration and operational staff at the Toka Tindung
Project in North Sulawesi have been cut back," the gold miner
said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.

This means that Toka Tindung Project is on care and
maintenance, and not operating.

Mining at Aurora's Mt. Muro mine in Central Kalimantan is
continuing.

Aurora's move follows decisions by Broken Hill Proprietary Co.
(BHP) and Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) to evacuate some of their
expatriate staff and families from Kalimantan, as a precaution
against rising tensions between Indonesia and Australia over the
crisis in East Timor.

Australia is leading a UN-approved peacekeeping force to East
Timor.