Talks on sale of NNT stake extended

The deadline to end negotiations on the divestment of a stake in PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), expired Thursday, but has been extended by 11 days, possibly to allow PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) to return to the negotiating table.

"Yes, it has been confirmed that the agreement signing will be postponed until Nov. 23 when the finance minister returns to Indonesia," State Minister for State Enterprises Mustafa Abubakar said Thursday.

Antam on Wednesday said it withdrew from a consortium of three regional governments in West Nusa Tenggara, but Mustafa afterwards replied that the decision was not final as he would consult first with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who is in Singapore at an APEC meeting.

Antam had previously been appointed as the representative of central government in the state-backed consortium set up to acquire a 14 percent stake in NNT.

However, Mustafa did not specify clearly or outright that the deadline extension was granted to give time for Antam to rejoin the talks.

"I certainly hope so," he said.

West Nusa Tenggara Governor Zainul Madji also confirmed Thursday the rescheduling of the deadline for the end of negotiations.

Antam said it withdrew from the consortium as it could not achieve its strategic objective to acquire at least a 15.5 percent stake in NNT.

NNT is a local subsidiary of US mining giant Newmont Corp. which operates the Batu Hijau mine in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia's second largest copper mine.

NNT's foreign shareholders, Newmont and Sumitomo, must sell a total of 31 percent of their stake in the firm by 2010 to the government, or to local parties designated by the government, based on legal provisions in a 1986 contract.