Acting Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's Director General of Minerals and Coal (Minerba) Bambang Suswantono has inaugurated first production of the first large-scale underground coal mine in Indonesia, located in Kotabaru District, South Kalimantan Province.
“I congratulate PT Sumber Daya Energi (SDE) on the inauguration of the first production activity of underground coal mine,” said Bambang when inaugurating it in Kotabaru, Monday.
The mine, which is located in Kotabaru, is owned by PT SDE, which is affiliated with PT Qinfa, with an area of 185 square kilometers.
The underground coal mine with a depth of about 180 kilometers is designed to produce a maximum 20 million tons of coal per year (stage 1 SDE-1 and stage 2 SDE-2).
Bambang hopes that the modern underground mine to contribute more to state revenue and become an example of domestic coal mine industry, as well as making investment climate in underground coal mining sector more environmentally friendly.
He also reminded that the company obliged to apply good and right mining rules and to fulfill state revenue and reclamation obligation after mining.
“It is also an obligation to transfer tchnology and skill from foreign workers to Indonesian workers,” he said.
The company, he said, is obliged to carry out development and empowerment program for communities around its mines, so the long term positive impact of the existance of the company can be distributed.
On the same oocasion, President Director of Qinfa Group Xu Da appreciated the support from the ESDM Ministry in facilitating SDE-1 commercial mining operation.
"We are introducing a change of paradigm in mining sector in Indonesia by operating underground coal mines with the latest technology," he said.
