JAKARTA, Indonesia--Indonesia said it hopes Newmont Mining
Corp.'s local unit can resume exporting in September, following a
new round of contract negotiations it says will begin next
week.
The government said Friday that new talks will begin after the
local unit, PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, this week withdrew an
international arbitration case filed in July against the government
relating to new export taxes. The gold and copper producer had
alleged the new taxes ran counter to its long-term contract, and
like other miners that refused to pay them was forced to stop
exports when the rule took force in January. In June, it declared
force majeure on existing contracts.
The company, one of the top gold and copper producers in
Indonesia, withdrew its case this week, and Chief Executive
Martiono Hadiyanto confirmed Friday that it will start talks with
the government next week.
Indonesia's chief economics minister, Chairul Tanjung, told
reporters that the government would use a recent negotiation with
another U.S. miner, Freeport-McMoRan Gold & Copper, as a rough
model for talks with Newmont.
Last month, Freeport, which also had gone months without
exporting, agreed to pay reduced export taxes but higher royalties,
among other things, in talks that allowed the miner to resume
exporting in early August.
Colorado-based Newmont is the world's third-largest gold
producer by market value, with major operations in several
countries. In Indonesia, it runs the Batu Hijau copper and gold
mine in Sumbawa Island.
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