The ASIA Miner - Reporting Important Issues to Mining Companies in the Asia Pacific Region
Issue link: https://asiaminer.epubxp.com/i/830355
Volume 14 • Issue 2 | 2017 | ASIA Miner | 15 Indonesia BLACKGOLD Natural Resources' subsid- iary PT Samantaka Batubara (PT SB) has signed an MoU with PT PLN Batubara (PLN BB) to further cooperate on the supply of coal to Indonesian power plants. BlackGold has a contract for the delivery of 500,000 tonnes annually to the Tenayan power proj- ect and the MoU seeks to increase the co- operation. The cooperation may be in the form of a joint venture or any other form agreed upon by the parties. Upon successful completion of due diligence, the parties will enter into a definitive agreement or term sheet. Through its coal procurement activities, PLN BB provides support to parent com- pany, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) Persero, for obtaining coal used in electricity generation. PLN BB's business strategy is to establish coal supply cooperation agree- ments, which may include acquiring stakes in mining concessions that hold mining business licences. PT PLN is Indonesia's state-owned elec- tricity company and has a monopoly over electricity distribution in Indonesia. BlackGold's CEO Philip Rickard said, "This cooperation is a sign of the furtherance of our relationship with PT PLN. Through this, we look forward to potentially increasing BlackGold's existing supply of coal to the PLN Tenayan project and the prospect of supply- ing to other PLN projects in Indonesia." The MoU is valid for an initial term of one year and may be extended subject to mutu- al agreement between the parties. On April 19 PT SB delivered its fourth shipment of coal by barge to the Tenayan port. Since the first delivery on February 10, 2017, the total tonnage of coal delivered to PT PLN was approximately 22,000 tonnes. PT SB has a concession in Riau covering 15,000 hectares and has more than 200 million tonnes of coal resources. BlackGold also recently received a pur- chase order from state-owned cement company, PT Semen Padang. The order is valued at about US$12.6 million and will be filled from the PT SB coal operations in Riau. Philip Rickard said, "We are very pleased to receive this order from Cement Padang. It represents another critical milestone for BlackGold, as the group adds another es- teemed state-owned company to its current portfolio of customers." BlackGold recently signed a share place- ment agreement with Johanes Budisutrisno Kotjo who intends to purchase shares for gross proceeds of up to S$3.56 million. BlackGold seeks further coal contracts A delivery of coal from BlackGold's Riau opera- tions to the Tenayan project.