Chairul Tanjung Questions Newmont's 'Good Intention'  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Chairul Tanjung said the government will push through all mineral exports negotiations with PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NTT), despite the mining company's request for international arbitration. Chairul said the lawsuit caused the government to "review whether Newmont still has good intentions in investing in Indonesia."

The government, Chairul said, has always sought to protect investors. Chairul said he was "disappointed" with the lawsuit, especially since it was filed amid ongoing talks between Newmon and the government over the raw mineral export ban. Arbitration, he said, should be requested if there are deadlocks. "The fact is, so far we have made several points of agreement," he said.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy, Abdurrahman Saleh, said the government will remain consistent in banning the export of raw minerals and wencourage domestic processing and refining activities. "This policy applies to all companies," he said.

On Tuesday, Newmont announced that they have filed for international arbitration over Indonesia's raw mineral export ban, which—the miner claims—is a violation of their contract of work (CoW) with the government.

"We want an interlocutory decision to allow the export of copper concentrate so that we can operate our mines again," Newmont president director Martiono Hadianto had said.

So far, the government has not issued a letter of approval for Newmont to re-export their copper concentrates.

On June 5, Newmont declared force majeure at the Batu Hijau mine and shut down operations because they could not afford to ship its production with the hefty duty. The action led to the housing of 3,200 employees with their salaries cut.

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