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Kaltim Prima Coal eyes higher production in 2017
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Giant carrier: A ship carrying mining trucks sails through Jakarta Bay. Last year, Indonesia managed to export US$14.6 billion worth of coal, according to data from the Geneva-based International Trade Center. (JP/Arief Suhardiman)
K
altim Prima Coal (KPC), the country’s biggest producer of thermal coal, expects to expand its production to up to 64 million tons in 2017 with support from technological innovation installed in its conveyor belt system.
“Next year, we want our production to reach 64 million tons, but we can’t really say that since we first have to obtain government approval for our production volume target,” KPC general manager for coal processing and handling Poltak Tarcisius Sinaga told reporters on Tuesday.
Poltak said the company, a subsidiary of publicly listed coal miner PT Bumi Resources, had installed the integrated drive system (IDS) technology, developed by German technology company Siemens AG, in its 49 conveyor belts, to help it speed up the process of transporting goods from the mining area to ports.
“Upgrading the speed of our conveyor belts is cheaper than adding new belts. The costs needed were only 20 percent of the total capital costs of building additional conveyors,” he said.
Located in East Kalimantan, KPC manages a mining area of about 90,000 hectares and produces more than 50 million tons of coal per year, equal to about one-sixth of the country’s expected coal exports in 2016.
The company expects to produce 59 million tons of coal this year, up by 6.4 percent from 55.4 million tons produced in 2015. (win)
