Bauxite miners stop operations due to ban on raw mineral exports

Less than two weeks after the government issued a ban on raw mineral exports, five bauxite mining companies operating in Tanjungpinang municipality, Riau Islands province, have ceased operations, a local official has said.

Tajungpinang Marine, Fishery, Forestry and Energy Agency head Sumardi said recently that they had no choice but to shut down because they lacked smelting facilities to process their bauxite.

“We have no idea why they did not want to develop processing facilities here,” said Sumardi.

He added that following the ban on raw material exports, his office had set up a team to make sure that raw mineral export activity would not continue in the region. In its monitoring, it found that five companies had stopped operating.

In defining the 2009 Mining Law’s mineral export ban, which came into force on Jan. 12 this year, the government has continued to allow the export of semi-processed copper and other minerals, but has made no such concession for nickel and bauxite.

Data at the Riau Islands provincial administration showed that there were 32 bauxite mining companies operating in the province. They are located in Karimun, Tanjungpinang, Bintan and Lingga, with combined bauxite reserves of up to 180.97 million tons. The province is one of the country’s major bauxite producers.

Following the imposition of the ban, the police, Navy and customs and excise office in the province strengthened security to prevent violations.

The provincial administration has expressed concern that some companies would illegally export unprocessed bauxite from Riau, but authorities have given assurances that no such illegal activity had been found.

Riau Islands Maritime Police director Sr. Comr. Yasin Kosasih said that the four patrol boats the police had deployed had so far reported no violations of the ban.

“So far we have not found any ship exporting raw materials abroad,” Yasin said.

Meanwhile, head of the action and operations facility division of the Tanjungbalai Karimun Custom and Excise regional office, Agus Wahono, said that surveillance was necessary to prevent the smuggling of raw minerals out of the country.

“We have not found any evidence of smuggling so far,” Agus said.

Commander of the Indonesian Navy Region IV Base overseeing Riau Islands, First Adm. Agus Heriyana, similarly said he had not yet received any reports of ships smuggling raw materials out of the province.

Riau Islands provincial administration spokesperson Raja Heri Muhrizal, however, said that his office had received reports of a number of foreign companies in the province attempting to smuggle bauxite.

He said he did not know where these companies got their licenses, but they were reportedly illegally exporting raw bauxite out of Riau Islands.

Meanwhile, West Kalimantan Police chief spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Mukson Munandar said in Pontianak that police had intensified its supervision over bauxite shipments in the province, also a major bauxite ore producer. “We are always coordinating with the relevant agencies to monitor the impacts of the government decision on the bauxite export ban. We obviously support the government’s decision,” said Mukson. He said that ore shipments were being monitored in Ketapang and Sanggau regencies, major bauxite producing areas in the province.

Severianus Endi in Pontianak contributed to this story.