Wacik Chairs Asean's Mineral Ministerial Meeting

Nusa Dua, Bali, Nov 28 (Antara) - Indonesia`s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Jero Wacik chaired the 4th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Mineral Ministerial Meeting (AMIMM) on Thursday. The meeting aims to discuss a number of proposals, which had been formulated during the ASEAN Senior Officials` Mineral Meeting (ASOMM) and ASOMM plus 3 on November 26 and 27. ASOMM Chairman R Sukhyar stated that the ASEAN senior officials` meeting had agreed to discuss nine proposals during the AMIMM. Among the formulations was a proposal to include trade, investment and technology aspects in ASEAN`s mineral database. "The mineral database will be located in Indonesia and is ready to be launched during the ASEAN mineral ministerial meeting," he said. The ASEAN mineral ministers will also discuss the desire of ASEAN to develop rare earth mineral utilization technology or tin ore mineral byproducts. Sukhyar pointed out that Indonesia also had an interest in the rare earth mineral utilization program, owing to the fact that Indonesia had many mineral deposits in a number of regions, particularly in the tin producing district of Bangka Belitung (Babel). Rare earth minerals have so far been wastefully disposed off together with tailing, although the minerals are very useful for the telecommunications industry. Within the framework of cooperation with ASEAN, Japan said it was prepared to share technology used in the utilization of rare mineral deposits. The other important issue, which needed to be discussed during the fourth AMINN, is the strengthening of ASEAN`s capacity for protecting the environment of mining activities, post-mining reclamation and mineral processing technology. The meeting will also discuss developments in the processing of sand quartz for the ceramic and glass industries, as well as acid waste processing management for the mineral industry, Sukhyar noted. In the meantime, Indonesia had earlier asked Japan, China and South Korea to be transparent about their mineral import requirements and provide guidance on the outlook for minerals to ensure market stability. "Guidance on the outlook, such as the guidance for energy, is very important to maintain balanced supply and demand in the region`s mineral and metal markets," Sukhyar said on Wednesday. Some ASEAN members, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam are producers and exporters of metals and minerals, he pointed out. He noted that Indonesia and the Philippines were the main producers of nickel ore in the region, while Laos was a leading producer of gold. Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia are tin exporters. "Therefore, ASEAN is appropriately concerned about ensuring that supply and demand in the mineral and metal markets are balanced to ensure price stability," he added. The Head of the Geology Agency under the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources stated that China and Japan have, so far, imported large quantities of metal and mineral ores from Indonesia, especially nickel, which is processed to produce stainless steel. He said Indonesia`s proposal had been received positively by the three ASEAN partners. "In the ASOMM+3 meeting, they accepted Indonesia`s proposal and even offered to assist in preparing the outlook," he added.