Development Direction of Mineral Mining in Indonesia

In line with the development of the human population and changes in life patterns that are increasingly oriented towards technology, the need for mineral materials for human life continues to increase. This has resulted in an increase in the demand for mineral supplies.

Technical factors that influence the mining industry in Indonesia include:

• Exploration areas are becoming more “mature” so that exploration targets are getting deeper or under overburden
• Shifting the type of exploration from “green field” to “brown field” due to the limited exploration area which causes the difficulty level to increase, and the discovery success ratio is getting smaller
• The target of “unconventional resources” has not been well developed, and needs to be encouraged in various ways and approaches.

Indonesia's mineral wealth, both identified as prospect and mining areas as well as unexplored potential, is a potential source of state revenue and some (for certain minerals) have the potential to be a driving force for the development of alternative energy which is urgently needed at this time.

Considering the importance of resource management and mineral mining exploitation in Indonesia, several matters relating to the improvement of national mineral and coal management must be implemented. One of them is a comprehensive inventory of mineral and coal resources. In addition, in order to maintain a positive mineral and coal resource balance, exploration must be encouraged and maintained on a continuous basis. The implementation of the phrase "exploration is the future" with the most essential purpose of exploration as inventory, must always be encouraged so that the state can set strategies for its use in the future. Exploration results in the form of discovery and technical earth data have many benefits, ranging from compiling an inventory of state assets and strategies for their use, conducting business or production, increasing state income, creating jobs and developing alternative energy.

One way to promote exploration is to accelerate and deregulate the opening of new exploration areas. It is time for the government to rely on minerals in addition to oil and natural gas resources. The government can plan to prioritize the use of mineral resources for the benefit of the domestic industry so as to reduce the export of resources in the form of raw materials so as to create synergy with domestic needs and encourage industrial growth and the national economy.

Technological developments for human life require more and more mineral supplies, both in terms of quantity and type of elements, including rare earth elements (REE) and other critical raw materials (CRM).