Indonesia has granted mining production quota requests from over 120 mineral companies and aims to finalise the approvals by the end of this month, according to Reuters citing a senior official at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.
Delays in the approvals, known as RKAB, have raised concerns among nickel smelters facing dwindling ore stocks.
All mining companies in Indonesia, a major producer of minerals like nickel, tin, and copper, must obtain RKAB approvals periodically to operate.
Irwandy Arif, special staff to the energy and mineral resources minister, stated that RKAB approvals for minerals are still ongoing, with a total of 723 companies applying for quota approvals.
While the tonnage and breakdown of approved RKAB were not provided, approvals for coal miners have been completed.
Djoko Widajatno, Executive Director of the Indonesia Mining Association, estimated that around 259 million wet metric tonnes of nickel production quota have been approved.
Additionally, approvals have been issued for 145 million metric tonnes of nickel ore production this year, with more underway as authorities prioritise processing requests for nickel and tin.
