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oal miner PT Darma Henwa plans to boost coal production and diversify its portfolio by making its first foray into the mineral business as part of an effort to jack up revenue this year.

The company projects production to increase by 25.9 percent this year to 17 million tons, from and expected 13.5 million tons in 2018, by improving its business operations.

It also promised to conduct regular maintenance work on its equipment, optimize the utilization of existing equipment and boost efficiency in human resources management.

“With the production target of 17 million tons, we expect our revenue to reach US$300 million in 2019,” Darma Henwa chief financial officer B. Chandrasekaran said during a recent public expose.

Darma Henwa, which is part of the Bakrie Group, sees the potential to increase production to 25 million tons in the next few years.

However, it has yet to fully make use of its equipment, prompting the company to focus on optimization this year.

Chandrasekaran added that to produce 25 million tons of coal, the miner would need around $240 million in investment.

Currently, the company manages four projects, namely the Bengalon coal project in East Kalimantan owned by PT Kaltim Prima Coal, the Asam Asam coal project in South Kalimantan owned by PT Arutmin Indonesia, the Satui coal project in South Kalimantan owned by PT Cakrawala Langit Sejahtera and a port service project for PT Dire Pratama.

Since September 2018, the company has increased the overburden volume of its projects to 75.5 million bank cubic meters (Bcm), up 18.5 percent from the same period in the previous year.

Considering the performance of its existing coal projects, Darma Henwa is expecting to produce an overburden of 100 million Bcm by the end of 2018, up 16.6 percent compared to 2017.

Meanwhile, coal production is expected to reach 13.5 million tons in 2018, a 5.5 percent year-on-year (yoy) increase, Chandrasekaran said.

The company estimates coal prices to hover at $80 per ton in 2019.

This year, Darma Henwa also plans to expand its business beyond coal production.

“We will open the opportunity to enter the mineral business [in 2019], hopefully to work in gold and copper mining projects,” Darma Henwa president director Faisal Firdaus told reporters during the same public expose.

Potential projects that the company is eyeing are gold and copper projects in Bone Bolango, Gorontalo, with a scope of work comprising road construction, mining activities and land reclamation projects.

Other potential projects are gold mines located in Central Sulawesi and South Sulawesi, with a duration of between three and four years, comprising infrastructure and earthworks projects.

Although it previously planned to enter the mineral sector, Darma Henwa said that coal businesses would still dominate the company’s portfolio.

In the first nine months of 2018, Darma Henwa, a publicly listed company with the ticker code DEWA, collected a revenue of $188.87 million.

It recorded a comprehensive profit of $830,000, or an increase of 210.9 percent over the same period in the previous year.

As of November 2018, 17.45 percent of DEWA’s shares are owned by Goldwave Capital Limited, 11.5 percent by Zurich Asset International Ltd. and 71.04 percent by the public.