On Wednesday Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources eventually confirmed a widely leaked decision rejecting an application to extend PT Koba Tin’s contract of work (CoW) on Bangka island by a further ten years to 2023. The decision was stated to be effective retrospectively from 31 August.
75% majority shareholder Malaysia Smelting Corporation said today that “PT Koba Tin intends to seek recourse with the government of Indonesia which may include an appeal process for the re-instatement and extension of the CoW. PT Koba will also consider other avenues to safeguard its interest.” The decision will not affect MSC’s financial performance this year, as the 24,000 tpy capacity operation has been shut down since last October and it had already made full impairment of its investment.
“The government decided not to extend the contract and assigned PT Timah to take care of Koba Tin’s assets,” Harya Adityawarman, Secretary to the Directorate General of Minerals and Coal told Dow Jones. State-owned tin miner Timah won’t mine the concession, however, Mr. Adityawarman said. State-owned companies will bid for Koba’s concession which covers 41,680 hectares of Bangka Island. PT Timah was previously the minority 25% shareholder in the joint venture.
