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deputy minister of energy and mines minister Widjojono Partowidagdo said.
“What the government does is always to help the public’s welfare,” he added.
Indonesian director of mineral business development at the Energy and Mines Ministry Dede Ida Suhendra said the new 51 percent divestment regulation will be discussed with foreign mining companies, such as US-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold and Newmont Mining Corp., under a renegotiation of contracts.
“The negotiations are still going on,” Suhendra said.
“There are seven points that the government will renegotiate, including the divestment clause and royalty,” he said.
Under Zimbabwe’s indigenisation policy, all foreign companies with an asset value of US$500 000 and above are required to cede 51 percent stake to the locals.
Following the enactment of the Indigenisation Act, protracted negotiations between the Government and mining companies took place to ensure compliance with the law.
Most big mining companies such as Mimosa, Zimplats and Unki have since complied with the indigenisation regulations.
Implats, the South African company that owns Zimplats, recently agreed to cede 29 percent of its shares to Government as part of the indigenisation process.
Zimbabwe’s indigenisation regulations had been criticised by some quotas of the Western media who argued they scared away investors.
However, the Government insisted that it wanted local people to actively participate in the mainstream economy.
Firms in the mining and banking sectors had already submitted their indigenisation plans.
Companies in the manufacturing sector are currently submitting their plans with reports from Government indicating that the response was encouraging.
The Indonesian government had earlier said that it wanted to increase the royalties received from the mining contracts, and both Freeport and Newmont have agreed to renegotia- te.
Freeport Indonesia operates the Grasberg mine at Papua, in the eastern part of the country.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold has 90.64 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia and the government has 9.36 percent stake.
Newmont Mining Corp. owns 31.5 percent of Newmont Nusa Tenggara, Japan’’s Sumitomo (24.5 percent, local company Pukuafu Indah (20 percent) and local Multi Daerah Bersaing (24 percent).
Newmont Nusa Tenggara owns the Batu Hijau mine in West Nusa Tenggara, which is estimated to contain 11.47 billion lb of copper and 11.57 million oz of gold.
Online Reporter