[Kabar-indonesia] Bumi, Energi delay shareholder meeting [+Newmont exec defends mining practice]

[Joyo at aol.com]

also: Update: Newmont exec defends mining practice in
Indonesia

Indonesia's Bumi, Energi delay shareholder meeting

JAKARTA, September 1 (Reuters) - Indonesian miner PT
Bumi Resources Tbk , hit by the collapse of a $3.2
billion deal to sell its two coal mines, said on
Friday it had postponed indefinitely a Sept. 19
shareholders meeting to vote on a plan to merge with
sister firm PT Energi Mega Persada Tbk.

The company had said its would like to buy oil
explorer PT Energi Mega Persada Tbk in an all-stock
bid then valued around $1.2 billion, creating a
national champion.

Energi also said it has delayed its shareholder
meeting to seek approval for the merger plan.

Both companies, controlled by the family of Indonesian
Chief Social Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie, said in
a statement they needed more time to complete
preparations for the merger.

Bumi last week scrapped a deal to sell the mines to PT
Borneo Lumbung Energi, an affiliate of Renaissance
Capital, in what would have been Indonesia's
second-biggest acquisition.

The company planned to use the proceeds from the deal
to finance the development of Energi.

Sources close to the deal said creditors for
Renaissance were baulking after one of the mines up
for sale performed far worse than expected in the
second quarter because of heavy rains.

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Newmont exec defends mining practice in Indonesia

MANADO, Indonesia, September 1 (Reuters) - The head of
the Indonesian subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corp. told
a court on Friday the firm followed government
regulations when it channeled the waste from its gold
mine to nearby waters.

PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR) is accused of dumping
toxic substances into North Sulawesi province's Buyat
Bay near its now defunct gold mine, making villagers
sick.

NMR president director Richard Ness took the witness
stand for the first time since the high-profile trial
against the mining firm began in August 2005.

"PT NMR placed tailings in Buyat Bay based on permits
from the government of Indonesia," Ness said.

"The recent resampling shows that actually the waters
at Buyat Bay are cleaner than many other oceans in the
world, the English channel and seas in Japan," said
the Minnesota native at the court in the provincial
capital Manado, about 2,200 km (1,375 miles) northeast
of Jakarta.

A team led by Indonesia's Environment Ministry in 2004
found arsenic and mercury content in tailings dumped
by Newmont in Buyat Bay had contaminated sediment and
entered the food chain.

Last July, the company retested fresh water samples
because previous tests by the World Health
Organisation (WHO), government agencies, independent
groups and the police had shown various readings on
pollution.

Tests by the WHO and Japan's institute for Minamata
Disease showed mercury levels in individuals, water
and fish samples were not unusual. But police tests
showed Newmont's disposed water exceeded limits on
heavy metals.

The prosecution has rejected the new water samples,
saying the water quality could differ from samples
taken by police in 2004.

Newmont opened the North Sulawesi gold mine in 1996,
stopped mining five years later and closed the site
after the last ore was processed in August 2004.

If found guilty, Ness could be jailed for up to 10
years and the firm could be fined.

The company also operates Asia's second-largest copper
mine, Batu Hijau, on eastern Sumbawa island, which
produced 718 million pounds of copper and 719,000
ounces of gold last year.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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