GOVT EXTENDS DEADLINE FOR DIVESTMENT TALKS WITH NEWMONT

Jakarta, June 19 (ANTARA) - The government has decided to extend by two weeks the deadline for divestment talks with PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), namely from June 15 to the end of June 2009, a senior official said.

Director general for mineral, coal and geothermal affairs of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Bambang Setiawan said here on Friday the government still saw a chance to reach an agreement with NNT.
"There is still a chance to find a meeting point so that we extend the deadline of the divestment negotiations by two more weeks," Setiawan said.

With the extension of the deadline, the appointment of an independent assessment team is delayed for the time being.

Previously, the government and NNT had agreed to appoint an independent assessment team to calculate the value of NNT assets for the divestment process if both sides failed to reach an agreement by June 15, 2009.

Under a 1986 contract, Newmont must gradually sell 31 percent of its stake in NNT to the government or local parties it will appoint in 2010.

Last year, NNT and the government went through an international arbitration procedure following a dispute on how to implement the divestment scheme.

The court ruled in favor of the Indonesian government. Under the international arbitration court ruling, Newmont is required to sell 17 percent of its stake which was supposed to be carried out in the 2006-2008 period.

The government and NNT have reached an agreement for the divestment of 3 percent worth US$109 million of the company's shares for 2006 with assets valued at US$3.63 billion, and 7 percent worth US$282 million for 2007 with assets estimated at US$4.03 billion.

However both sides are still negotiating the divestment of 7 percent of NTT stake for 2008 and 2009 respectively.

They however have not yet reached an agreement on the value of NTT's assets for 2008 and 2009.