PT ANTAM (Persero) Tbk subsidiary PT Indonesia Coal Resources (PT ICR) has acquired the Sarolangun coal mine in Jambi Province for Rp92.5 billion with the purchase representing PT ICR’s first move into coal mining.
Sarolangun began operations in June 2010 with 2010 production of around 200,000 tonnes and PT ICR plans to ramp up coal production this year to around 500,000 tonnes.
It estimates that the coal reserves of Sarolangun amount to 8.25 million tonnes with average calorific value ranges between 5300 to 5500 Kcal/kg. The coal is currently sold to the domestic and Indian markets.
PT ICR was formed to support Antam’s plan to build a coal-fired power plant to partly supply electricity for Antam’s ferro-nickel facilities.
This year, in line with its optimization plan for ferro-nickel smelters I and II, Antam is targeting production of 18,000 tonnes of nickel contained in ferro-nickel (TNi) with a sales target of 18,500 TNi. It is targeting nickel ore production of 7.65 million wet metric tonnes (wmt) consisting of 4.5 million wmt of high grade nickel ore and 3.15 million wmt of low grade nickel ore. It aims for 5.86 million wmt of nickel ore sales in 2011 with 3.71 million wmt of high grade ore and 2.15 million wmt of low grade ore.