Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said the draft regulation had been completed and submitted to the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister.

“There is no need for another meeting [to discuss the draft]. It just needs the President's signature,” Jonan told reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of a Cabinet meeting at the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java.

(Read also: Government may lift mineral export ban)

So far, the government has only confirmed that mineral concentrates will be allowed to be exported past a mineral export ban set to kick in after Jan. 11.

However, a copy of the regulation obtained by The Jakarta Post shows that the relaxation will not just apply to copper concentrate, but also to raw nickel, bauxite, anode slime and copper telluride.

Jonan also said his ministry had prepared a ministerial regulation to enforce the government regulation. However, it would only be issued after the government regulation was issued.

The 2009 Mining Law initially included a mineral ore export and concentrate export ban in order to encourage development in the downstream sectors. The law stipulates that mineral ore miners must complete their smelters by 2014, when the export ban should have been fully put in place. The smelters are expected to bring in added value to the end products, as opposed to exporting ore in its raw form.

However, because none of the proposed smelters had been completed, the deadline was extended to 2017 by then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono when he issued PP No. 1/2014 as an amendment to PP No. 23/2010 on the management of mineral and coal businesses. (hwa)

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