Govt drafting underground mining regulation: official

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government is drafting a regulation that will allow contractors to conduct underground mining activities, an Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry official said.

The draft regulation had reached the State Secretariat, the ministry`s director of mineral and coal business development, MS Marpaung, said at the weekend.

"We hope the regulation can be implemented next year," he said.

The government or presidential regulation would stipulate general requirements for underground mining, he said.

He said a number of mining companies such as PT Dairi Prima had expressed readiness to carry out underground mining.

Law No41/1997 on forestry lacked provisions on underground mining, he said.

The law only forbade open mining in protected forests so that it could be logically assumed it allowed underground mining in protected forest areas, he said.

"But the Forestry Ministry may object to (underground mining in protected forest area). That`s why we have agreed to regulate underground mining," he said.