8 August 2014
Over the past 12 months, EMD has continued to be a lone voice advocating the need for increased exploration activity in Indonesia to provide a basis for an ongoing healthy mining sector. During this period, EMD has become recognized for its efforts, with invitations to provide speakers at industry events and with enthusiastic attendance to its regular seminars.
However, much remains to be done to highlight the issues which are inhibiting new exploration and EMD is planning a major effort on this as the new Government begins its term in office.
During the year, a number of exploration companies have left Indonesia to seek less restrictive regulatory regimes. Service companies have also felt the pressure of reduced opportunities. This has placed pressure on EMD membership, but I am pleased to be able to report that there was a modest increase in membership over the year. One of the Board’s focuses for the coming year will be to widen and increase membership and to seek additional sponsors. The sponsorship of Micromine Indonesia and Intertek over the past year has been invaluable.
Apart from myself, the Directors of EMD are Myke Jones, Andrew Riley, Geoffrey Gold, Iman Soeriaatmadja and John Bishop. Tim Scott, Linda Siahaan and Ian Wollff have served as Associate Directors. All of them have given freely of their time and made important contributions to EMD’s activities. However, I would like to make special mention of John Bishop who took on the role of Treasurer and has ensured proper financial control over the organizations limited funds. Unfortunately, due to pressing corporate responsibilities, John has indicated that he will be forced to resign after the Annual General Meeting on August 28, 2014.
As part of the effort to reduce overheads, rental of the independent office at Pondok Indah Plaza 3 was not extended in March and the EMD executive has operated out of space made available in the Micromine Indonesia office in Pondok Indah Office Tower 1. A virtual office address has been taken up for statutory purposes.
Several successful seminars were held during the past year. Some of these were noted in the earlier report to Members dated 3 March 2014. On September 2, 2013, a further seminar entitled “Forestry Issues and Land Access” was held. The Keynote speaker was Dr. Ir. Kuntoro Mangkusubroto followed by a panel comprising Bill Sullivan, Adi Sjoekri and Tony Ainscough. The participation of Dr. Kuntoro was much appreciated although his views on the possibility of changes in regulatory procedures governing exploration was not encouraging.
The seminar held on November 12, 2013 was addressed by Bapak Syahrir, Executive Director of IMA. The topic was “The Unintended Consequences of Recent Regulations in the Mining Sector”. At this meeting, Shawn Crispin of Agincourt Resources gave an interesting presentation entitled “Where does the Exploration Manager Spend his Budget”, and Bill Sullivan gave a further update on commenting on the recent Mines Department Regulation No. 27.
The February 25, 2014 seminar was entitled “ Is There a Future for Foreign Investment in Exploration in Indonesia” the Keynote speaker was Dr. Lobo Balia, who was a Senior Officer within the Minerals and Energy Ministry for many years. Bill Sullivan and John McBeth (Strait Times) also made presentations.
Finally, a joint seminar with Ozmine (Austrade) was held on May 21, 2014 entitled “Exploration in Indonesia and its Importance in the New Mineral Policy Debate”.John Levings of Robust Resources presented the Keynote paper on the Romang Island discovery and issues inhibiting its development. An EMD chaired panel including the two speakers plus Bapak Budi Santoso, Bapak Sukmandaru Prihatmoko, Bapak Gatut Adisoma and Tim Griffin of The Western Australia Mines Department then gave an interesting presentation on the system used to manage exploration licenses in Western Australia, then discussed the importance of exploration and its relevance in the draft Minerals Policy. This was a particularly successful seminar with a total attendance of over 280.
The Chairman provided introductory statements at the commencement of each seminar, and the transcripts of most presentations are available on the members section of the website.
Planning is well advanced for the next seminar, which is scheduled for August 28 and will be held in association with the Association of Provincial Mining Heads (PEMA). The subject will be “Streamlining the Exploration Approval Process”. Speakers are expected to include a representative of PEMA, etc.
This seminar will be followed by the AGM of EMD. It is important that EMD members attend this short meeting to enable the election of Directors and to approve other statutory matters. An agenda, together with other information relevant to the meeting will be sent out in early August.
The substantial involvement of foreign-controlled companies in the exploration sector in Indonesia (and hence in EMD’s membership) makes it inappropriate for EMD to attempt direct representation to Government. EMD has therefore spent considerable effort to develop relationships with organizations which are in a position to do this. Good relations have been developed with PERHAPI, which has invited EMD to provide input to the new Mineral Policy through it. Cooperation with PEMA has now been taking place for over two years and this represents a good opportunity to promote industry views on the encouragement of exploration. Relationships with the Embassies of Australia and the USA also good and it is anticipated that they will provide further scope to represent industry views to the Indonesian Government following the recent election.
In all these initiatives, the EMD Board feels that it has not benefitted from the potential involvement of members. The informal meetings with members held on a bi-monthly basis in EMD’s formatives stages were suspended due to lack of attendance – at least partly due to logistics. The Board is considering approaching members to participate in a number of sub-committee to ensure a wider input to its activities.
The past year been undoubtedly been a difficult one for the mineral sector and exploration activities are abysmally low. EMD’s commitment to encouraging a more active sector remains strong and it is hoped that the new Government will be more open to industry input on ways to encourage exploration.
Malcolm G. Baillie
Chairman, EMD Indonesia
