C

oal miner PT Resource Alam Indonesia (KKGI) says it has spent US$7.9 million to acquire controlling stakes in four coal mining companies in East Kalimantan.

Resource Alam purchased a 75 percent stake in each of the firms: PT Kaltim Mineral, PT Jaya Mineral, PTTambang Mulia and PT Chaido Mega Mineral, the company said in documents submitted to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).

“Future development of the newly acquired concessions, in addition to the company’s organic growth, is in alignment with Resource Alam’s long-term objective to become one of Indonesia’s major coal producers,” the statement said.

Resource Alam previously commissioned mining consultant PT Britindo to conduct geological studies of the coal mining concessions, which span 28,521 hectares, and their prospective open-cut potential.

Indonesia, the world’s largest coal exporter, is expected to produce 340 million tons this year, including 6 million tons expected to be produced by Resource Alam.

“The newly acquired fields are still green fields, they’re not yet producing. The potentials are still being analyzed. We’re still counting on organic growth for the year,” Eric Tirtana, Resource Alam’s investor relations chief told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview on Thursday.

Chaido is the closest to starting operations next year, on 5,000 hectares near Resource Alam’s northern block. Resource Alam spent $1.67 million to acquire the company’s 75 percent stake.

Meanwhile, Kaltim Mineral, Jaya Mineral and Tambang Mulia will start production in 2015 on a combined adjoining area of 23,521 hectares. A 75 percent stake in each of the three firms was valued at $6.25 million.