30 Sep 2014
MINERAL AND COAL MINING REGULATION REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF RECLAMATION AND POST MINING ACTIVITIES

The above regulation was issued by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources under No. 7 of 2014 (“MEMR Regulation No. 7/2014”) on 28 February 2014, as the implementation of Articles 9, 12, 15, 18, 28, 36, 43, 49, and 51 of Government Regulation No. 78 of 2010 on Reclamation and Post-Mining Activities.

MEMR Regulation No. 7/2014 sets out the obligations of holders of Mining Business License (Izin Usaha Pertambangan or “IUP”) and holders of special IUP (“IUPK”) for exploration and for production operation, and regulates the planning of reclamation and post-mining activities as well as implementation of the plan.The following are some of the key points.

PLANNING OF THE RECLAMATION

Exploration Phase

• Holders of exploration IUP and exploration IUPK must submit their reclamation plan to the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (the “Minister”) or any other relevant government authority no later than 45 (forty five) calendar days prior to the commencement of their exploration activities. This plan must be submitted in the format provided as annexed to MEMR Regulation No. 7/2014.
• The relevant government authority has 30 (thirty) days to respond to the plan, in the form of (i) approval; (ii) rejection; or (iii) order for revision. Lack of response following the 30 days timeline may be deemed as meaning that the reclamation plan is approved.
• Changes to an approved reclamation plan requires the submission of the amended reclamation plan within 180 (one hundred eighty) calendar days before the commencement of the reclamation activities in the following year.

Production Phase

After the completion of the preliminary study at the exploration phase, a reclamation plan for the production phase must be made for a period of 5 (five) years or for the respective mining period if the mining period is less than 5 years.

POST MINING PLAN

This post mining plan is a prerequisite for the production operation IUP. It must submitted to the relevant government authority within 60 (sixty) days as of the issue of the respective mining license.

GUARANTEE DEPOSIT

For each reclamation plan and post-mining plan, the respective IUP or IUPK holder must make a guarantee deposit in a government bank in order to ensure the commencement of the plan.

REPORTING OBLIGATION

Holders of exploration IUP and exploration IUPK must report the implementation of their reclamation plan annually to the relevant government authority, at the same time they may request the release of the guarantee deposit made in the exploration phase.

SANCTIONS

The sanctions for non compliance of the obligations under this regulation are as follows:

1. Written warning letters;
2. Temporary suspension of part or all of the mining activities; and/or
3. Revocation of the exploration IUP, exploration IUPK, production operation IUP, or production operation IUPK.

MEMR Regulation No. 7/2014 has been in effect as of the date of its issue. (by: Mahatma Hadhi/Marisa Harfiana)