Insider Stories - Indonesia, one of the world’s biggest exporters of mineral resources, effectively bans unprocessed mineral ore exports from Sunday, as part of an effort to promote domestic processing, but leaving 66 companies, including two US giant miners, to be exempted, officials said on Saturday.

"The president has signed government regulation [PP] No. 01/2014 that enforced the Mining and Mineral Law No. 4/2009. Starting from January 12, mineral ore exports has been prohibited," said energy minister Jero Wacik.

He said the government will release further ministerial regulation to implement the PP, including from the energy and mineral resources ministry, finance ministry and trade ministry. "The PP has been in force and has been registered to the state gazette appendix No. 5489 on January 11, 2014," Wacik said. 

On Saturday afternoon, president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held a limited cabinet meeting at Yudhoyono's private residential in Puri Cikeas, Bogor regency of West Java.

The meeting started from 05:00 p.m. and attended by Vice President Boediono, chief economics minister Hatta Rajasa, state secretary Sudi Silalahi, industry minister MS Hidayat, energy and mineral resources ministry, the deputy to justice and law minister Denny Indrayana and some other high level government officials.

Wacik said the government seeks to avoid the possibility of a massive layoff should a full ban is enforced.

He also said the PP also considered the impacts to regional economic developments.

"We don't want the PP to drag down growth in the region," Wacik said.

Some details that energed from last week's meeting from the government were the government, in last minute, change its stance to allow concentrate exports for copper, iron ore, lead and zinc to continue.

Last week, the government and miners can still export minerals with the following purification level:
- Iron ore (58%)
- zync (51%)
- lead (57%)
- Copper concentrate (15%)
- Ferronickel (10%)
- Nickel matte (70%)

This means units of American giants Nemont Nusa Tenggara and Freeport Indonesia, which together produce 97 percent of Idnonesia’s copper, will be exempted. FI is a unit of Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold and NNT is a unit of Newmont Mining Corp.
Indonesia in 2012 posted $10.4 billion from mineral shipments, according to the World Bank.


Also read: Nickel, Bauxite Exports from Indonesia Badly Hurt from Mineral Ore Ban