Bayan inks $800m deal with Thiess

Coal producer PT Bayan Resources has signed mining contracts worth more than US$800 million with engineering and construction firm PT Thiess Contractors Indonesia.
In a statement on Monday, the country's eighth largest coal producer announced that its units PT Teguh Sinar Abadi (TSA) and PT Firman Ketaun Perkasa (FKP) had each signed five-year mining contracts with Thiess valued at around $610 million and $220 million respectively.
TSA and FKP are coal mining companies that own third-generation coal contract of works to mine in Melak, East Kalimantan. TSA and FKP have current concession areas of 5,838 and 12,710 hectares respectively.
Under the contract with Bayan, Thiess will carry out mine planning, overburden removal, coal mining, as well as loading and transportation of coal from the mine to the jetty.
The contracts also set out a total maximum production target of 4 million tons of coal and approximately 40 million bank cubic meters (BCM) of overburden per annum.
Bayan was the eighth largest coal producer in Indonesia in terms of production volume in 2007.
It expects to increase its coal production to 9 million tons this year from 4.7 million tons last year.
Its 2008 projected sales volume is 9.9 millions tons, up from 7.1 million tons last year.
Bayan, through its eight subsidiaries, owns the rights to mine coal on a total area of 81,265 hectares in East and South Kalimantan.
The company estimates a doubling of revenue to $700 million this year, from $376 million last year. Net profit is expected to reach $100 million this year, more than triple last year's profit of $27.5 million.

Source: Alfian , The Jakarta Post 10/14/2008