Indonesia Says Newmont Could Resume Exporting in September

JAKARTA, Indonesia--Indonesia said it hopes Newmont Mining Corp.'s local unit can resume exporting in September, following a new round of contract negotiations it says will begin next week.

The government said Friday that new talks will begin after the local unit, PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara, this week withdrew an international arbitration case filed in July against the government relating to new export taxes. The gold and copper producer had alleged the new taxes ran counter to its long-term contract, and like other miners that refused to pay them was forced to stop exports when the rule took force in January. In June, it declared force majeure on existing contracts.

The company, one of the top gold and copper producers in Indonesia, withdrew its case this week, and Chief Executive Martiono Hadiyanto confirmed Friday that it will start talks with the government next week.

Indonesia's chief economics minister, Chairul Tanjung, told reporters that the government would use a recent negotiation with another U.S. miner, Freeport-McMoRan Gold & Copper, as a rough model for talks with Newmont.

Last month, Freeport, which also had gone months without exporting, agreed to pay reduced export taxes but higher royalties, among other things, in talks that allowed the miner to resume exporting in early August.

Colorado-based Newmont is the world's third-largest gold producer by market value, with major operations in several countries. In Indonesia, it runs the Batu Hijau copper and gold mine in Sumbawa Island.

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