Kupang Resources closer to get export quota
Friday, March 20 2015 - 01:02 AM WIB
ASX-listed Kupang Resources Limited said that the mines and energy department in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara Province, has recommended approval for Kupang Joint Venture?s (in which the company holds a 55 percent stake) request to get the so-called IUP OPK permit of Kupang Joint Venture (in which the company owns a 55 percent stake) encompassing processing, stockpiling, sales and transport.
The company said in a statement Monday that this is the last step in the process to obtaining an export quota and allows Kupang JV to trade and process manganese ore from anywhere on West Timor.
?Following the granting of this permit the granting of an export quota is a formality and dependent on the company providing its intended production and shipment schedules for authorities to authorize,? it said.
Following the approval from the local mines and energy department, the subsequent final permit issuance is considered administrative in nature, Kupang said.
The Kupang JV will be the only company with such a license and coupled with its port infrastructure and processing plant at Bolok will be in a unique position of being able to export manganese concentrate under the new legislation, the company explained.
Kupang or West Timor has prolific quantities of manganese ore which once processed at Kupang?s wholly owned process plant adjacent to the Tenau port will comply with the new regulations for export of manganese. ?This will put the company in the sole position of being able to access West Timor?s extensive manganese, long known to be on the island for the global export market,? the company said.
It added that once the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources provides final approval, viewed as a formality the company?s focus will shift to growing its capacity to be a significant producer of manganese into the global market.
Elsewhere, the company said the arrival of quality control personnel for the domestic shipment of ore from the Attambua satellite operation has been planned for mid March 2015. This allows the grading of manganese ore for domestic supply only into the agreed pay grade ranges. The company anticipates that the first containers will be available for shipment in a four week time frame following the arrival of the technical personnel, the company said.
The Kupang Project is located in (Kupang) West Timor, in the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara, a region well known globally as a source of Manganese ore. The project is located 13km by road from the planned processing area. The process area is only 3km by road from the port facilities of Kupang, where it is proposed ore from the Kupang Project will be shipped.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak