Indonesian Minerals – 01 Introduction

 

Minerals are a part of basic human needs, and will be increasingly important as the development of civilization and technology unfolds. The need for minerals increases both in amount and kind. Minerals are needed for all types of industries, for exam­ple, agriculture, food technology, telecom­munications, transportation, chemistry, housing and energy supplies. The develop­ment of information technology, military and space technologies are intrinsically tied to material technology and minerals' use. New trends and orientations in environment-friendly energy (zero carbon footprint) use minerals as sources of en­ergy, such as: energy conversion proc­esses and the creation of energy-saving in­struments requiring special types of miner­als such as lithium, REE, cobalt, nickel, manganese, tin, and graphite.

Therefore, the security of the national min­eral commodity supply becomes an impor­tant government responsibility, both at central and regional government levels. Typical geological conditions of Indonesia en­courage the discovery of new areas of min­eral potentials. Minerals are natural re­sources that cannot be easily renewed, formed as they are through long geological processes. Along with this, mineral re­sources also enjoy different values at differ­ent times, and are vulnerable to influences from global issues. This is where the impor­tance of government policy resides in man­aging mineral resources through under­standing the characteristics and potential of these resources in Indonesia.

Indonesia, positioned amongst three large continental plates, India-Australia, Pacific, and Eurasia, are also enveloped by 20 micro-plates from the Gondwana, those generated today in its complex geological setting (Figure 1.1). Aside from potential disasters as a result of active tectonics, geological resources also produce rich de­posits of minerals and places Indonesia in the category as the world's 3rd most mineral-rich country (Fraser Institute, Fig­ure 2.1). The huge potential of mineral pros­pect areas is a strategic commodity and one of the main capitals of development; it also forms parts of state sovereignty and self-sufficiency objectives.

The mineral mining industry has triggered growth in several regions, mainly rural ar­eas, that can themselves generate new growth centers, not only contributing nationally but also encouraging development in surrounding areas. Systematic explora­tion of mineral resources in both the me­dium- and long-term is very important to uncovering the potential of mineral re­sources, especially strategic minerals (gold, copper, nickel, iron, tin, manganese, bauxite), and critical minerals (antimony, cobalt, hafnium, natural graphite, niobium, phosphate, scandium, vanadium, platinum group metals, rare earth elements). There­fore, although not all potential minerals will be utilized at this time, revealing all poten­tials is needed to establish short-, me­dium- and long-term development plan­ning. To establish optimal benefits requires complete and accurate data for determin­ing precise and measurable mineral policy management. Mineral exploration is needed to obtain an overview of the verti­cal and horizontal distribution of sub­ surface conditions, and requires several stages and methods of investigation. Proper and systematic methods not only increase high accuracy/low error results, but also reduce costs.

Typical geological conditions in Indonesia confirm the potential to find new re­sources. These conditions are also sup­ported by the potential of the Indonesian metallogenic belts and zones. There are 15 mineralization belts and zones in Indonesia (Figure 1.3), with a total of 15,000 km., ap­proximately 7,000 km. of which have been intensively explored and exploited, leaving some 8,000 km. which remain to be opti­mized by exploration. For this, more invest­ment and other efforts by all stakeholders are required to generate greater mineraliza­tion. Of the mineral resource deposits in In­donesia which are exposed on the surface, almost all have been discovered. On the other hand, of deposits of mineral resources near the surface but not yet ex­plored, and, mineral deposits covered by younger volcanic sediment, little has been discovered as yet. This reality promises the opportunity for huge mineral discover­ies (Figure 1.4).

The investigation of subsurface metallic minerals with greater potential than those already revealed on the surface, has be­come a target of the last five years, as many indications have been found on the surface leading to subsurface continuity. But limitations in proper tools, modern geo­physical surveying equipment, and drilling tools have been limiting factors.

The strategies to unveiling "blind ore de­posit" to find the new mineral prospect ar­eas can be divided into 3 (three) activities as follows:

•        Continuing exploration to obtain sub­ surface data through geophysical method, and if necessary it can be contin­ued with drilling operation.

•       Strengthening the development and up­dating the mineral database, including but not to limit to collecting and inputing raw data, that collected from mining per­mit holder, contract of work, exploration report and other data, for finding new prospect areas and new occurrences pat­tern of mineral deposit.

•         Continuing regional geochemical explora­tion to get new prospects area, which are covered by new deposits and /or not dis­closed at surface.

 

Many metallic mineral prospects are the re­sult of surface surveys and require further investigation towards the subsurface. Among the prospects for gold, iron ore, manganese, and base metals, primary of which, if investigated by the appropriate methods, is expected to be obtained with a potential far exceeding estimates on the surface. Especially for gold commodities, according to media data from more than 800 illegal mining locations spread throughout Indonesia, digging has only been on the surface or to a minimal depth. The illegal gold mine is an indication of the possibility of continuity from the surface and it can be used as a "gate" to provide direction for proper investigation of gold potentials under the surface.

Mineral investigation activities offer various degrees of challenges. The levels of diffi­culty can be gauged by the location of min­eral deposits in rural areas and also by the position of deposits deep under the sur­face. Besides this, irregular shapes, and heterogenic grade distributions make min­eral estimation more complex. Currently, geology has a strong foundation in up­stream mineral technology especially in the exploration technology required to esti­mate mineral resources and reserves. To achieve current objectives requires proper hypotheses and methodologies. Exploration concepts in the investigation of min­eral resources must consider local geologi­cal settings.

Since 2015, infrastructure development has been a national priority, so the availabil­ity of non-metallic minerals and rocks such as limestone, clay, and sand have become important commodities as raw materials. The value of non-metallic minerals and rocks depends on the distance of commod­ity occurrences from their transportation infrastructure. Therefore, the construction of infrastructure to reach remote areas of Indonesia is essential, so that the value of non-metallic minerals and rocks that was once prohibitively expensive becomes eco­nomically viable.

The Legal Basis

The 1945 Constitution in its 33rd article, 3rd paragraph, states that "the land, the waters, and the natural resources within, shall be under the powers of the state, and shall be used to the greatest benefit of the people." Consistent with this statement, mineral resources must be managed and utilized optimally for present and future generations to create a just and prosper­ous society.

Referring to law number 4 of 2009 concern­ing mineral and coal mining, the 4^th article 2nd paragraph, states that minerals and coal as non-renewable natural resources constitute national wealth controlled by the state to be used for the people's welfare. The control of minerals and coal by the state is carried out by the central govern­ment and/or regional governments.

With the existence of law number 4 of 2009, mineral resources management re­fers to the law and its derivative regula­tions. In line with regional autonomy policy, the management of mineral resources following the primary authority is the duty of regional governments to manage.

In general, geological resource manage­ment policies can be divided into two groups. Firstly, exploration, which includes activities of general investigation, explora­tion and conducting feasibility studies. Sec­ondly, production operations, which pro­vides for construction, mining, processing, and refining activities, and also for transportation and sales.