Indonesia’s Mining Industry

Indonesia is blessed with a variety of mineral resources. Not least, of course, are oil and gas, which together have done much to fund the development of the nation. There is cooper and gold, nickel, and the least attractive but most useful of substances, coal, which today feeds thousands of power stations to supply the electricity that everyone has come to depend upon.
Indonesia’s mining industry-excluding the oil and gas sector-earned a solid US$3 billion in 1994 and directly employed some 45,000 workers. Copper was the biggest contributor at just over US$1 billion, followed by coal with earnings of nearly US$900 million. Gold and silver, nickel and tin are the other major extract active industries. And while the depressing reality of the slow decline of oil reserves might be offset by continuing solid prospects for the gas industry, other mineral resources are assuming a larger role as new deposits are found and exploited.
Coal is one such hope or the future. In 1989, a mere 9.2 million tons were taken, while by 1994 the figure had risen to 36.3 million tons. Gold showed an even more dramatic rise, from 5,744 kg in 1994. Other minerals, particularly tin and nickel remain sensitive to world price fluctuations.